Thunderbolt
by AngelDemonSakura
Summary: Sakura's goal in life is to defeat the Pokemon Master and prove that pokemon aren't just tools for entertainment, all without the use of pokeballs. Now, after being forced to use one by Kakashi, Sakura's journey begins.
1. Pikachu

It was a bright sunny day out when a bobbing head of hair could be seen in the small town. Said bobbing head of hair belonged to none other than Haruno Sakura, who had graduated from the academy just the morning before.

She was a strange girl down to the very core of her being. Her eyes an unexplainable green that shined with unconcealed emotions. She wore a sleeveless red zip-up, collared shirt with a white circle on the back and black cargo shorts. She had mid-calf length black boots with straps and shoelaces to keep them in place. Over her shorts was a grayish-white apron skirt and equally colored elbow protectors. On her seemingly small, fragile hands were worn black fingerless gloves that spoke otherwise. But the strangest thing about this small girl's appearance was the bright cherry blossom colored hair of her namesake.

Currently, Sakura was heading down to the laboratory to obtain her first pokemon. At this normally exciting event, the pinkette puffed her cheeks and glared at the aforementioned building. She was excited, yes, but she hated the concept behind it.

You see the reason she was famous in her town and bullied as a kid was not mainly because of her hair, it's because of her dream. She claims that she will defeat the current Pokemon Master, Uchiha Madara, and show everyone that pokemon aren't just tools for enjoyment… without using poke balls. People thought her insane and maybe she was, the voice in her head was not helping.

'_**So, what do you think we'll get? A fire type would be pretty cool, but a water type would be hella fun!'**_ the aforementioned split personality asked.

'_Dammit Inner, I hate poke balls! And besides, I think a plant type would suit my personality best.'_ Sakura replied.

'_**Wimp.'**_

'_Bitch.'_

'_**Touche.'**_

After an aggravating conversation with her Inner, Sakura finally reached the laboratory. As she walked in side she remembered how the inside was just as boring on the outside. Dull gray. As she walked deeper into the building, Sakura noted that she was alone, again.

'_Dammit! Why the hell does Kakashi-sensei have to be late on a day like this?'_

'_**And doesn't he live here?'**_

Sakura facepalmed and decided to do something useful and clean up the place. Eying the familiar orange porn, she put it on the side table beside his bed and put all of the dirty clothes in the laundry. She picked up a red and white ball with a button on it distastefully. Oh how she hated the things. Poke balls, spherical machines used to capture pokemon and force them to do their masters bidding. This was of course the challenge she had to face: earning the pokemons' trust and teaching them to obey her commands without the aforementioned contraption.

As soon as that thought ran through her head, a man with spikey gray hair that defied gravity appeared on the window. The only other visible feature was his right eye for the other was covered by his bangs and he had a medical mask covering his nose and mouth.

Said man raised an eyebrow at the cleanliness of the building and saddened when they reached his pink-haired student. Oh how he wished she didn't hate him.

"I don't hate _you _Kakashi-sensei, I just hate your job." Sakura stated turning to face him.

"Are you a mind reader?" he asked boredly.

"I'm just good at observing things." She stated with a smile, "So, which pokemon am I getting today?"

Kakashi thought for a moment before an idea popped into his head, "How about we play a little game?" he asked.

"A… game?" She mumbled, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"Yes, the rules are simple. I will have three pokeballs, and you must dodge my attacks and grab one of them. Then you must defeat the pokemon I am currently using. That will determine which pokemon you are most suited to use." His eye crinkled upwards to express an amused smile at his student's face.

"Wha… but, you… uh… and… ugh…" she hung her head down in defeat as her former teacher lead her out into the forest.

.:0.o.0:.

As they came into a clearing, Sakura could only sigh.

"We're really going through with this, aren't we?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Of course, did you think I would take time out of my busy schedule for a joke?" At her annoyed, disbelieving look Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and added, "Besides, isn't this more your style?"

Another strange thing about the pinkette: she would rather fight herself instead of having a pokemon fight for her. It just sort of went against her morals.

She huffed and moved to her place opposite of Kakashi.

"You ready?" he asked amused.

"Let's just get this over with already." She growled out.

"Show yourself, Bulbasaur!" he shouted, and then all hell broke loose.

She dodges out of the way, its vine whip nearly missing her. At Kakashi's command, Bulbasaur launches razor leaf at her. Sakura quickly dodges to the right this time and charges toward Kakashi. All efforts proved pointless as Kakashi kept yelling orders. Sakura ran behind a tree to think of a strategy. Despite being weird and a little bit crazy, Sakura had gotten the highest grades in the academy. After nodding to herself, Sakura ran into the clearing.

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask, _'I wonder what's going through her head.'_

It went something like this:

'_**There is no way in hell that this will work.'**_

'_Thank you, for those encouraging words.'_

'_**No one likes sarcasm, hon.'**_

'_Shut your trap.'_

'_**It's your trap too, moron.'**_

'_Bitch,'_

'_**Touche.'**_

And on with the story:

It continued this way for a good three minutes. Sakura had just dodged another razor leaf and noticed a pattern in Kakashi's attacking. If she got too close, he would use vine whip to keep her at a distance. If she attempted to grab the vine whip like she planned previously, then he would use razor leaf to throw off her accuracy and make her take cover. But since she began to move around this pattern, Kakashi had Bulbasaur use leech seed to slow her down.

She was just about to attempt to grab the vine whip, a scared squeaking voice could be heard throughout the forest. Because of the distraction, Bulbasaur was unable to stop the vines and back met tree.

Sakura grunted in pain as she slid down the tree, damn those vines were strong. Kakashi ran up to her with a worried look in his lone onyx eye.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

Sakura muttered a weak, "Yeah, I'm fine… but that sound… ugh, it sounded like a pokemon."

Kakashi nodded his head and ordered her to stay put, and after getting a sarcastic, "Yeah, I'll _totally_ go out and party." He decided to check it out. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when a yellow blur flew between them… and tripped. Not a few seconds later did a flock of pidgey come squawking loudly to each other.

"Hey! Leave that pichu alone! What did he do to you?" Sakura yelled at them. They responded with even more squawking.

"Look, I'm sure he didn't mean to shock you. I mean come on, he's just a pichu! You know they can't control their electricity that well." She replied.

Kakashi watched the entire exchange between the two up until the pidgey gave in and flew away. To say he was surprised was an understatement. Not only did she speak to them, but she _understood_ what they were saying.

Kakashi walked over to the unconscious pichu and picked it up.

"He's in pretty bad shape, we should take him back to the lab." Sakura nodded and struggled to get up, so after a few (a lot) of protests she took his offer and let him help her walk to the laboratory.

.:0.o.0:.

"So, is the pichu alright?" Sakura asked through the bathroom door.

"Shouldn't I be asking _you_ that question." He responded as the rosette walked out of the bathroom.

"So, how is it?" he asked ashamed.

"Well it's purple and will hurt like a bitch to wake up in the morning, but I'll live." She answered casually with her eyes closed, as if this wasn't a terrible injury.

Kakashi sighed, "I'm going to postpone your leaving date." He stated, waiting for the quake of anger to erupt from her…

…And he didn't have to wait long, "What the hell Kakashi-sensei! You know how hard I've been working on this, I can't simply sit here and recover while they laugh behind my back!"

"Yes, I know. Which is why I'm _postponing_ it for a few days until you can travel without any trouble." he said, emphasizing on the word postponing.

After a few growls, groans, and a very long string of curses a girl her age should not know, Sakura finally agreed to stay for a few days. She looked over to the little pichu that was sleeping peacefully and decided it would be best for her to rest as well.

She got up to leave when the little creature began to stir. She and Kakashi rushed over to him to check his health. His eyes slowly opened and before they knew it, a painful shock ran through their bodies. They fell on their backs causing Sakura to yell out in pain.

With help from Kakashi, Sakura rose her her feet and tried to ignore the throbbing in her back. The little mouse pokemon stared at them through wide eyes filled with fear.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. I chased those pidgey away, so you're safe now." Sakura smiled down at the creature as his eyes overflowed with relief. Suddenly, she remembered the throbbing pain in her back and got down on one knee to steady herself.

Kakashi took the opportunity and captured the small pokemon with a beam of light. After wiggling a bit, the red and white pokeball settled down and Sakura glared at Kakashi.

"Why the hell did you do that?" she yelled at him.

"Because," he said as he picked up the pokeball, "this will be your first pokemon."

The room grew silent for a few seconds as Sakura registered that sentence into her brain.

"Wha… but I thought…test, three, vine whip… ugh…" Sakura groaned as she clutched her head in confusion.

"Yep." Was his only reply as Kakashi helped Sakura walk over to the couch and lay on her stomach.

"So where did you get that test from? I know you're too lazy to make it yourself, _professor_." Came her muffled grumble through the pillow.

Said man scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Well, Professor Sarutobi taught it to me. It was originally used as a training technique for pokemon to help their agility. And I'm not old, I'm only 29!"

Sakura lifted her head from the pillow and smiled at him, "See, pokemon and humans aren't so different after all. Old man."

Kakashi watched as his former student fell asleep with a content smile on her face. She shifted her head to the side and hugged the pillow cutely and for a second he wished he were the pillow. But that thought got pushed back to the farthest recesses of his mind and locked up with 8-inch thick, reinforced steel doors. She was _fourteen_ and he was _twenty-nine_, not to mention he was her former school teacher.

So instead he was content with placing the pokeball back on the counter and reading his porn. Bad idea.

.:0.o.0:.

Morning light shined through the cracks in the blinds and onto our adorable pinkette. She stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes to come face-to-mask with Kakashi. She yelped and fell off the couch.

"What the hell, Kakashi? What the hell." She said angrily.

"I didn't want to wake you, but now that you're up we can start your training." He chirped.

"You're lucky I didn't land on my back."

.:0.o.0:.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, electric pokemon tend to run away and you know how pichu can't control their sparks! And it's not like I can keep him in this pokeball…" Sakura trailed off, looking at the ball in her hands.

"And why not? I know how you refuse to _catch_ pokemon, but you never said anything about _using_ pokeballs." Kakashi pointed out as they entered a clearing.

"Yeah, but…" Sakura trailed off again, "By the way, what did you mean by training?" she asked suspiciously.

"Training with your pichu. Since you have to stay a little longer, why not practice now and get rid of those bad habits. Besides, it would be a waste of time and effort if you can't use a pokeball or control your pokemon in the woods." He explained.

Sakura shot him a dirty look at the mention of her delayed leave, which was soon replaced with a look of defeat. After all, he was right. She looked at the machine in her hands and asked, "So how _do_ I use this thing?"

Kakashi rose an eyebrow at this, _'Wow, now _that's_ determination_._'_

He took the ball from her hands and explained that she needed to throw it and/or call out its name.

"Oh yeah, you said 'show yourself' what was that about?" Sakura asked as she took the ball from his hand.

"When you call out a pokemon, you would normally say something to go along with it. 'Show yourself' is what I say, but the choice is up to you." Kakashi answered.

"Oh, I see. I wonder what I would say…" she mumbled.

"In order to call back your pokemon, simply point the button towards them and say 'return.' Also, you can name it if you want. The instructions are in your pokedex. Well, I'll be off. Good luck." He said with a wave as he began leaving.

"Wait, you're leaving? But I need help, what if he tries to run away." She argued.

"I need to go make an ointment for your back, unless you want to stay longer." That shut her up, but he could still feel her defeated glare on his back.

After Kakashi was out of eyesight, Sakura looked at the pokeball in her hand. Giving into Inner's demands, she finally manages the courage to call out her new pokemon.

'_Here goes.'_

"Make yourself known, Pichu!" she shouted while throwing the ball.

A bright light shot out of the pokeball as it opened, before closing and flying back in Sakura's direction. The light formed into a small pokemon with big ears and head, but with a small body. It was colored a pale yellow with brown spike on the neck and outlining the ears. It also had two pink pouches on the sides of its head.

Shaking out of her stupor, the girl knelt beside the pokemon as she saw it holding its tail.

"Here, let me help. Don't worry I won't hurt you, but I need to tend to that wound." She grabbed a bottle out of a pouch on her skirt and sprayed a bit on the tail. Sakura then proceeded to spray every cut and bruise on the tiny creature. As soon as she was finished, Sakura picked up Pichu and immediately got electrocuted.

"Ow…" she groaned as she fell on her butt.

The pichu jumped out of her arms and took off in the other direction. Sakura quickly got up and ran after him.

She had been running a good thirty seconds when she lost sight of him. Either way, Sakura continued to run ahead until she heard what appeared to be thunder and then the clamp of a machine.

Sakura sped up and sprinted until she reached the sounds. Standing before her was a giant machine with several arms, each of which having opened capsules on the end. Trapped in one of them was her very own Pichu, struggling to get out.

She rushed forward as soon as she saw the arm drop the capsule in a hole at the top. Sakura jumped on one of the arms and ran up, avoiding the others. It was taller than she originally thought, so Sakura took one giant leap and pushed off the big red S to reach the top. She crawled over to the capsule that held her pichu, noticing other pokemon on the way. She stood up as soon as she reached him.

"Hold on Pichu, I'll get you out of here." She said as she raised her fist and swooped it down, to no effect.

"Come on. Break the glass dammit!" she shouted as she kept punching and punching.

She growled as she finally got a crack in. With a raised fist she shouted at the top of her lungs, "**Shannaro!**"

The next few seconds went by in slow motion as the glass broke into a million fragments. She didn't even have the time to register a clawed arm grabbing her waist and slamming her down on the ground, back first.

Sakura gasped as the air left her lungs and a burst of pain shot through her body. She saw specks of black clouding her vision as she struggled to stay conscious. With much effort, Sakura was able to pull out the red and white pokeball from her pouch and point it toward the spot where Pichu jumped down.

"I know you probably don't like me… or this pokeball… but you have to… ngh… get inside this ball… ugh… it's safe in there…" she said through struggled gasps.

"Pichu, pichu-piii!" he responded worriedly as he was absorbed into the ball.

Sakura's hand fell down and she smiled triumphantly as the arm was about to come down and crush her body. Suddenly, the pokeball opened and out popped Pichu.

Just as the arm was about to crush them, Pichu began to glow white. Sakura watched in amazement as the tail grew longer, the ears narrowed, and the build grew stocky and matched the head in width. The light dimmed to reveal a Pikachu.

His face set in a determined gaze, Pikachu aimed at the arm and yelled as a thunderbolt shot out from him, "PIKA-CHUUUU!"

The lightning tore through the machine and effectively destroyed it, setting the other pokemon free.

Pikachu turned around worriedly and ran up to Sakura as soon as she lost consciousness.

"Pika-pi!" he screamed.

Then Pikachu remembered the masked man and turned toward the skies.

.:0.o.0:.

Kakashi had just finished preparing the medicine and went to go check on his ex-student when he heard what appeared to be… a thunderbolt?

E didn't remember any other electric type pokemon out there, and there doesn't seem to be a target either. That's when he realized it was close to area Sakura was in.

Kakashi's eyes widened and he ran in the direction of the bolt.

After about three minutes of running, Kakashi finally stumbled into a clearing and was shocked by what he saw.

A giant machine, almost as tall as the trees, lay completely destroyed and in pieces. But what got his immediate attention was his ex-student lying unconscious with a Pikachu right next to her shooting thunderbolts into the sky.

Kakashi ran to them and bent down to pick her up. He noticed that Sakura's face was contorted in pain, and her previous position explained that she was probably slammed down on her back. Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder as to not cause Sakura any pain.

With that in mind, Kakashi sped off in the direction of Pallet town.

.:0.o.0:.

Sakura groaned as the light through the windows shined into her face. Reluctantly, the pinkette opened her eyes to come face-to-face with a pikachu. A pikachu… her Pikachu! Her shot up in realization before being pushed back down by two yellow paws.

"Pika-pi." He said worriedly.

"I'm fine, but my back still hurts…" she groaned as she slowly sat up.

"Be glad that's the only problem." said a voice from behind.

Sakura turned around to see her ex-teacher holding a jar of cream.

"What's that?" she asked.

"This cream is a special formula made by Tsunade-sama. After winning a competition, I was awarded with some of it. Being a scientist, I figured it out." He explained as he sat next to her on the couch.

"_The_ Tsunade-sama? The Tsunade-sama that trained every nurse Shizune? The Tsunade-sama that is known as the best pokemon doctor _and_ breeder in the world? That Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yes, _that_ Tsunade-sama." Kakashi answered boredly.

Sakura stared at him for what seemed like hours, but was actually thirty seconds, until a thought popped into her head.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei? What competition? You never said anything before, I thought you were always just a scientist." She drawled on.

Kakashi made no move to answer her questions, but instead looked to be mentally berating himself for some reason.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Pika-chuuu?" Pikachu asked as well.

After being pulled from his stupor, Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and said, "It doesn't matter. Anyhow, you need to put this cream on. You're already behind the others."

"What? They already left? Great, now my goal is even harder to reach…" she groaned, yet again.

'_**Stop groaning, you sound like an old man.'**_

'_Dammit, you're back.'_

'_**You know you love me.'**_

'_Why me?'_

'_**Suck it up.'**_

Shaking out of her daze, Sakura noticed both Pikachu and Kakashi staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You spaced out again, she does that a lot." Kakashi said turning to Pikachu.

"Pika." Pikachu nodded his head in understanding.

"Shut up. Now how often do I have to put it on?" Sakura asked Kakashi.

"Well there's not much of it left, so I'd guess right now since you're awake… and right before you leave in three days." Kakashi slowly drawled out.

"Th-three days? Dammit, can't I go any sooner. I'm already behind, and everyone's discouraging words aren't going to help…" she said with a sigh.

"Pika-pi." He said in a comforting tone.

"I already took care of that. In fact, the townspeople are pretty impressed with the fact that you broke a Team Sound machine and evolved your pichu into a Pikachu after only one day. Add the fact that you did it with a major injury and no experience… well, let's say their cheering you on now." Kakashi informed her with a crinkled eye.

Sakura stared wide-eyed at him before thanking him profusely, which caused her back to hurt from all the bowing.

"Ow…" she said bluntly.

"Here, let me put this on-" he began to say before the jar was knocked out of his hands by a tail and into Pikachu's arms.

"Pikachu." Pikachu stated victoriously as he began to push Sakura to the direction of the bathroom.

Sakura laughed sheepishly as Kakashi mumbled a string of curses under his mask.

.:0.o.0:.

The brisk wind swept around Sakura's face as she faced the forest. It was early that morning, before even dawn approached. Yet to Sakura, this was the first step. Her pack on her shoulders and Pikachu sitting on her right shoulder, Sakura turned to face the town once again. Who knows when she will have another chance.

But she did not expect her ex-teacher to be standing there, on time. He was always at least forty-two minutes late.

"You forgot your pokedex." He said as he walked up to her.

Sakura looked at him questioningly as she pulled said object from her pouch.

"But it's right here." She said.

Kakashi shook his head as he grabbed the object in her hand and replaced it with the one in his.

"Not anymore. This is a special pokedex that I have designed. It's filled with data that I have collected over the years, and it's equipped with a tracker and calling device." He explained.

"Tracker? Calling device? Like in the pokemon centers you told me about?" she asked while staring at the machine admirably.

'_He's giving me his pokedex…'_

"In case you or your pokemon get lost, I can track you and you can track them. A map is included as well. Yes, the calling device is like I explained to you. Just push that button and it connects to my monitors. Before I forget, I also included the recipe for that cream I made a few days ago." He added.

"Thank you so much Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed while practically glomping him.

"Oh! You never answered my question about the competition, and why didn't you mass produce the cream? You could've made millions! Then you could have all the porn you want." She asked.

"Is that really how you see me? A greedy pervert." Taking her silence as a yes, Kakashi scratched the back of his head and continued, "The reason I didn't make more of it is because every ingredient is either rare or dangerous. That's why I only made a little bit, and that's probably the reason Tsunade-sama agreed to give it away as a prize." He answered.

Sakura noticed that he avoided her question yet again and decided not to force it out of him. It must be personal. She smiled a small, delicate, gentle smile and got out of his grasp.

Before leaving she turned around and gave a small wave, "I'll talk to soon, 'kay Kakashi?"

Said man responded with a raised hand as he watched her turn around and leave.

Kakashi smirked under his mask as Pikachu turned his head and shot him a jealous glare because she called Kakashi by his first name. He fingered a small ball inside his pocket as she left from his sight.

'_She has a lot of obstacles ahead of her, but I'm sure she'll reach her goal. Right, Obito?'_


	2. Caterpie

Through the darkness of the forest night, one could see a flash of pink and a blob of yellow. Said figures were currently sitting around a small fire in an average-sized clearing. And they didn't look too happy.

"Well this sucks." Definitely not happy.

"Pika…" he sighed.

"Hey, it's not my fault the sleeping bag got burned to a crisp." She huffed.

"Pika-Pikachu." He replied.

A few seconds pasted before they simultaneously sighed.

"So, what do we do now?" Sakura asked, turning to Pikachu.

"Pikachu." He said, pointing to her pack.

"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me." She smiled as she brought out her Pokedex.

"Pika." He replied as he snuggled closer to her.

Sakura flipped it open and began pressing buttons.

"Okay, where to start? Oh! Pokemon League Tournament qualifications." She pressed the button and lowered the screen so Pikachu could see. It showed a picture of the current pokemon master, Madara.

"See, this is the guy I want to beat. But it looks like I've got a long road ahead of me…" Sakura sighed. Then she scrolled down and read aloud, "In order to qualify to fight against the Pokemon master, I first have to get eight gym badges and pass the elimination tournament. After that I have the opportunity to fight the Akatsuki, an organization compromising of ten of the best trainers in the five nations. We'll have the fight of our lives against him because it says that all of his pokemon are much stronger than the Akatsuki's. They might even be legendary pokemon…"

"Pika?"

"Yep, as we are now we're screwed." She answered.

"Pika-Pi…"

"No need for your sarcasm." She mumbled as she pressed a few more buttons.

"Well the map states that the nearest town is a three day walk down this road, and- huh?" she stopped which earned her a questioning look from the mouse pokemon. Next to some of the towns was a red cloud outlined in white. Sakura clicked on it and out popped a description of a man in his early twenties with slick back white hair and violet eyes. It took a moment for Sakura to realize what the symbol meant.

"Ugh! How did I not see it sooner?" she scolded herself.

"Pika?" he asked questioningly.

"The red cloud outlined in white is the Akatsuki symbol. This must be the locations of their bases or something." She explained.

The Akatsuki wasn't just some too-bit organization that let their locations get found out, but some were open for matches (like gym battles, in a way), but one of the challenges was finding them.

"And we've got to make more friends before we can even think about barging in there…"

"Pika?" he asked.

"Well, the Akatsuki usually work in pairs. That means that it's two-against-two, but if we're lucky we can fight one partner at a time… not likely though." Sakura sighed, "Hell, even some of the gym battles require at least three pokemon."

"This sucks."

"Pika."

After a brief moment of silence Sakura spoke, "After we wake up and eat in the morning, we'll train 'till we can't train anymore. Then we set off for Viridian city, agreed?"

"Pika!" he chirped determinedly.

She smiled and lied down, but not before cursing her aching back. And after seeing the worry etched on Pikachu's face, Sakura drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

.:0.o.0:.

When Sakura woke up, she expected to have an aching back and cold limbs. What greeted her, though, was a large number of furry pokemon huddled around her small frame. Still in her arms was Pikachu, but it was obvious that he had left previously. Just then, said Pikachu stirred awake and smiled sleepily at her.

"Piiika." He drawled out.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at his words. They weren't funny, no, but made her so happy that she needed to let it out.

Apparently, after she fell asleep Pikachu talked to some of the nearby pokemon, who agreed to sleep next to her and keep her warm.

Soon enough, all of the pokemon awoke. Some had been startled, but soon calmed down after she graced them with a kind smile. Unlike some other trainers, Sakura didn't use this opportunity to capture any pokemon. She didn't even try to force a friendship and earn their trust. No, they were already kind to her by acting as her makeshift sleeping bag and kept her warm. Their soft, puffy fur also acted as an orthopedic mattress for Sakura and made her feel rejuvenated, instead of struggling to get up from pain. In fact, her back felt great! Almost as if it _didn't_ have a dangerous encounter with a tree trunk _and_ ground floor.

Sakura sat up and rifled through her bag. Mumbling curses to herself, she turned to the Furret next to her and asked him in a calm voice, "Do you know where we can find some goddamn food?"

Pikachu sweatdropped.

After a couple of minutes of rodent squeaking, Sakura thanked the pokemon and stood up. Putting Pikachu on her shoulder, they set off into the forest.

.:0.o.0:.

"And there's the river." Sakura stated nonchantly.

"Pika-pi." He said as he jumped off her shoulder and ran across the field.

Five minutes later and Sakura was done setting up camp for the moment and wondered where Pikachu was.

"They said the berries weren't that far from the river…" she mumbled as a feeling of dread overtook her.

And just as soon did Pikachu come running, covered in some sort of string.

"Pika Pika, Pikachu!" he yelled.

She caught him and plucked the string off, noticing it was very sticky.

"What the hell-" she began but was cut off by another fit of Pika-pi's.

"Wait, wait. You got attacked," nod, "by a Caterpie," nod "and you ran like a little bitch…" pause… nod.

"Well, let's go check it out!" Sakura declared.

.:0.o.0:.

As they got closer to the described area, Sakura and Pikachu started to hear some buzzing through the trees. When they finally got there, they saw the reason. Swarmed around an oran berry tree was a group of Beedrill and on the tree was a beat up Caterpie.

They kept attacking it, but the Caterpie refused to go down. And Sakura thought that maybe, it was protecting the tree…

"You could've mentioned the Beedrill…" she trailed off as they got closer.

"Pika…" he sweat dropped.

"Hey, what's going on here?" she yelled.

"Beedrill!" he said before attacking them.

Sakura dodged instinctively, but he was coming for another attack.

"Pikachu!" she yelled. He nodded and jumped out of her arms.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaachuuuuu!" he yelled as a flash of lightning knocked out their opponent.

"Alright! Now take care of the others, they don't seem too friendly." She remarked.

They rushed forward, just as the Caterpie was about to fall, and then she saw it. Sakura saw what the Caterpie was protecting. An injured baby Caterpie.

"Pikachu! Use quick attack to distract them for a bit!" Sakura yelled to him as she rushed forward, toward the tree.

"Pika! PikPikaPikaPikaaaa!" Pikachu yelled as he hit one of them, effectively knocking him out.

With the Beedrills' attention on Pikachu, Sakura was able to make it in time to catch the fallen Caterpie. Immediately, she took off her pack and administered first-aid.

"Now, Tail-whip!"

Pikachu followed her commands, but got knocked aside. The number was far too great.

"Pikachu!" Sakura cried worriedly.

"Pi…ka…" he struggled to say. Pikachu was almost done for. He couldn't last much longer.

"Pikachu, send out one thunderbolt." She said determinedly, "Trust me."

He nodded slowly, but began charging the electricity. Then he held it. _They were getting closer. _And held it. _They were almost there._ And released it.

Then, out of nowhere, an enormous flash of lightning erupted from the small mouse Pokemon and engulfed the surrounding Beedrill. They were down before the light faded.

And good thing too, for Pikachu fell over from exhaustion. Sakura picked him up and took him to the tree. She sprayed him with a little potion and he was fine. Then she proceeded to take out the baby Caterpie.

After spraying it with a little potion and wrapping up the injured area, the other Caterpie began to wake up. It string-shot Sakura's arm, but stopped when it noticed the bandages.

Sakura sighed, "I fixed him up for you."

The Caterpie cut the webbing apologetically.

Sakura placed the baby back in the tree as a Butterfree flew in, apparently the Caterpie's mother. She ripped the webbing off her arm and picked Pikachu up in her arms.

"Take care!" she smiled as they walked back to the river.

After eating some fish Sakura caught, she and Pikachu set off for Viridian city.

.:0.o.0:.

About ten minutes into the trip, Sakura noticed that her pack was heavier than before. She stopped to check why and opened her pack to find a face.

Of a Caterpie.

The one from before.

Staring right at her.

And in her mouth was an oran berry, which she dropped into Sakura's hand.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked as she took out a Pokeball.

"Caterprie." She said nodding her head.

Sakura enlarged the pokeball and tapped the Caterpie lightly on the head. A light flashed as it was sucked in. The button blinking several times before it stilled.

"Look Pikachu, we made a new friend!" she cooed happily.

"Pika!" he agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys! Sorry for not updating in forever, but all of your comments and favs gave me the motivation to start writing again! There will be a poll on my profile for who Sakura's first human compaion should be :D<strong>


	3. Squirtle

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Naruto, there wuld be strip poker and Sakura harems.

* * *

><p>After three long days of traveling, training, and getting all of my stuff destroyed, we finally made it to Viridian City. During this time, Pikachu and Caterpie have become best friends. I'm really glad because if they weren't, my sanity would've diminished.<p>

The training was simple: Caterpie vs Pikachu. I shouted orders to both to combat, dodge, and block each other. I learned that Pikachu has a knack for agility and potential strength. Caterpie has few attacks and mobility, but has quick reaction timing. How I could train him when he becomes a Metapod, I don't know.

But as I walk through the gate and into the city, I realize two things: 1. Most of my stuff is ruined 2. I'm fucking hungry. Deciding that I'd better get my stuff together first, I go to the nearest hotel. I rented a one-bedroom suite, but will pay after I leave since I don't know how long I'll be staying here. After taking a shower and checking my back to see the bruise gone (**YES!** _Shut up, Inner_), I made a mental checklist of the things I need to buy.

'_Clothes, first of all. Then some potions, maybe some TMs, some food obviously…' _

'_**And beer!'**_

'_We're 15. And wait, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"_

'_**Waiting for beer. No beer?'**_

'_Sigh, no beer.'_

I sighed, "Damn, we really need to buy a lot of stuff. How much money do we have?" I wondered aloud as I reached into my backpack. I pulled out a checkbook and blinked. Once. Twice.

"What the hell is this?" I asked, annoyed. I opened my pokedex and called Kakashi.

_RING RING RIN-"Hello?" _ came the muffled voice of Kakashi. His face played on the screen, his eye crinkled being the only sign of his smile.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei! How ya been?" I asked cheerily.

"_Sakura! It's been ages since we've last talked! How is your journey going?" _he responded in an oddly excited tone. For a man who is late to even his house to be this excited is fishy. And weird. Just plain weird.

"It's been four days, Kakashi-sensei." I stated calmly.

"_That long?"_ I sighed.

"And good news on my journey," I said as I gestured for Caterpie to come over here. I held him up and beamed, "I made a new friend!"

"_So soon? I see great things in store for you. How is your back, by the way?" _he asked concerned.

"Actually, it's completely healed! That cream really works." I said before sighing, "It'd be really cool if I could meet _the_ Tsunade in person and ask her for some tips."

"_Eh, you're better off forgetting about her. Last I heard, she was gambling and drinking her way into debts in some town." _he waved off.

"Still… Oh yeah! When I was back home and fought that robot, you said it was a Team Sound machine. What's Team Sound, and what contest were you talking about?" I asked in a daze, remembering that day.

"_Team Sound is an evil organization that captures pokemon and sells them off to any buyers. The leader is a sick bastard named Orochimaru and his right-hand man, Kabuto, is just as bad. Pray that you never meet them."_ He answered seriously.

"I didn't know a scientist such as yourself believed in God." I remarked sarcastically.

"_Irrelevant."_ He replied boredly.

I felt like I was forgetting something. What was it again? I called for a reason… the checkbook!

Kakashi watched in amusement as she overreacted figuring something out. She always did that.

Soon enough, Sakura came back with a long book of paper and a look of annoyance on her face.

"What the hell is this?" I asked him.

"_Why, that would be a checkbook Sakura."_ He said in an annoying teacher voice.

"You don't say?" I replied sarcastically, "But why do I have a checkbook? Where's all my money?"

"_In a bank account."_ He said flatly. He could see the tick marks and sweat dropped when she held her fist up and Pikachu's cheeks sparked. Even from this distance they were freakin' scary.

"_Just use the checkbook to buy your stuff, then you can earn cash and other items by battling other trainers. Your account has about $500, so feel free to have some fun." _He waved off casually.

"Oh, well… thanks Kakashi-sensei!" I beamed. I wanted to fight, refuse, but he would just wave me off again. Besides, I needed new clothes anyway, and good quality are expensive.

"_Which city are you in again?"_ he asked.

"Viridian City. I'm just here for a pit stop, a couple of days and I'm gone." Well, it was true.

"_While you're there, go to the Pokemon Center and have those two checked out, just in case. Also, instead of buying potions, make them. I taught you the recipe, right?"_ he asked curiously. Why hadn't she done that?

I looked at him in annoyance. What was he, a fucking mind reader?

'_**I knew it!'**_

'_Shut the hell up.'_

'_**I refuse.'**_

'_Polite for once? I must be really hungry.'_

'_**Just feed me, damn you!'**_

'_Hehe, you will have to wait!'_

'_**I thought I was the evil one…'**_

'_Just shut up.'_

"I'll do that later-" insert single eye roll here, "-because I have a lot to do today-" insert muffled snicker here, "-so I gotta go." I finished with a glare while cracking my knuckles.

He sweat dropped and gave me a hesitant wave before I logged off. I sighed at his immaturity and Pikachu hmphd in response.

"Jealous, aren't we?" I asked with a teasing smirk.

Pikachu blushed a bit and turned around. Caterpie climbed on my lap and chuckled at Pikachu's embarrassment. I remembered that we still had a crapload of work to do and it was already 1 in the afternoon. It took a long time to wash Pikachu and Caterpie, though, and I was glad that it was over. Pikachu's cheeks sparked and Caterpie used string shot when they were happy and the nice hot water didn't help much. I nearly got electrocuted eight times and had to wash of the webs afterwards. It was Hell, I tell you. Hell.

No comments, Inner.

"So, now that we're clean and rejuvenated, let's go!" I chirped happily. Pikachu and Caterpie did their respective cheers and went to their respective places on me. Pikachu on my head, Caterpie in my arms. And we left to shop.

.:0.o.0:.

After two hours of nonstop shopping, I finally have everything I need. Potion ingredients, check. Travel food, check. New sleeping roll, check. TMs, not yet necessary. Pokeballs, Kakashi made sure I had extra. Clothes, I look fucking fantastic.

I looked myself over once more to inspect my new outfit. I was now wearing a baby blue spaghetti strap with plain jeans. I also bought plain black and blue sneakers.

I was knocked out of my stupor by a growl coming from my stomach. Now this is a very embarrassing situation, but Sakura Haruno does _not_ get embarrassed. Instead, I looked very pissed and annoyed. Inner wasn't helping.

'_**Why have you been ignoring my pleas you stupid bitch?'**_

'_Because you're fucking annoying!'_

'_**But I'm dying here!'**_

'_Just shut up and die quietly!'_

'_**You're mean! We're not friends anymore!'**_

'_Inner, you are my alternate persona. You're forced to be my friend!'_

'_**Fuck it! Just feed me!'**_

I sighed wearily and was about to mentally stab Inner when I saw my salvation: Mira's Café. I instantly perked and was seated at a table outside. I flipped through the menu, which had something of everything, while trying to ignore the seemingly drunk idiot and his quiet friend behind me. Within a few moments, I couldn't tolerate the idiot anymore and turned around.

"Hey!" I barked angrily.

They turned around and I would've laughed, had I not been so pissed off. The idiot was this freakishly tall bastard who, I'm being serious here, looked like a fish. A _fish_. The guy next to him, though, was drop dead gorgeous. He had longish hair tied in a low pony tail and coal-black eyes. The stress marks on his face worried me a little deep, deep, deep down in a very small place in my heart. His friend was an asshole.

They looked at me with their own respective curiosities. Fishface was a little pissed, while Quiet-Guy raised an eyebrow a fraction of a millimeter. Kakashi used to be that way too.

I took out my pokedex and pointed it to Fishface.

"I'm not a goddamn pokemon!" Fishface barked.

"… Seriously? And shut the fuck up Fishface, you're pissing me off!" I hissed at him.

"What'd you say?" he yelled.

"Stupid _and _deaf. I feel bad for the emotionless prick over here." I said pointing to Quiet-Guy.

He glared at me, and I could've sworn I saw red, but I was too pissed to care.

"So can you please shut your ass up and let me eat in peace?" I growled before turning around to look back at my menu. Pikachu and Caterpie glared at them from their spots on the table. Sparks were coming from Pikachu's cheeks as the waitress approached.

"They're not worth it, Pikachu." I sighed as I closed my menu.

"Hello, my name is Kylie and I'll be your server today. Can I get you something to drink?" She chirped.

"Yes, can I have some Green Tea? Actually I'm ready to order, also." I told her.

"Sure, what would you like?" she asked as she took out her notepad and pencil.

"I'll take the Crab Cakes, Fettucini Alfredo, Beef Stir-Fry, Barbeque Beef Ribs, and a Strawberry Parfait." I listed from memory.

"I-Is that all?" she sweatdropped.

"Vegetable Stir-Fry for Pikachu and Caterpie, with a house salad and bread." I told her.

"Alright, I'll be back with your order." She said before leaving.

"Damn, Pinky. That could feed an army!" said Fishface.

"I'm worth a fucking army." I stated matter-of-factly.

"Isn't a girl your age supposed to be dieting and all that shit? Yet here you are ordering the Heart-Attack Special." he asked.

I paused and stared at him for a few seconds before calmly replying, "Are you retarded? Why the hell would I do that?"

Fishface laughed and said, "To watch your weight to impress guys like this _'emotionless prick'_ over here. No time for sweets like cake and parfait." He finished, patting his friend's shoulder.

I looked at him blankly before responding, "I fucking love cake."

He laughed out loud and I figured this must happen often because his friend sighed.

"You're the strangest girl I've ever met." He laughed.

"What gave it away?" I asked sarcastically. Pink hair isn't very normal.

Fishface looked at my hair before asking, "Is your hair-"

"It's natural." I responded out of reflex, though I looked pissed all the while.

"So that pokedex, I take it you're a trainer." He said, pleased with himself.

"That's the most intelligent thing you've said all day." I said seriously.

He laughed it off, and no sooner before Kylie the Waitress came with my order. It was way too big, so a couple of waitresses were helping her with it.

Here's your order miss!" she chirped, then she leaned down and whispered into my ear, "And I added some berries for those two cuties, don't tell my boss." She giggled.

Oh yeah, she was _definitely_ getting a big tip.

"Pikachu, Caterpie, what do you say to this nice girl?"

"Pika-Pi."

"Cater."

They said in unison while bowing.

"There's no way you could eat that much." Fishface smirked.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Watch me."

I was done in thirty minutes, at least with the dinner portion. I was happily finishing the last spoonful of my parfait and turned to smirk at Fishface.

I popped the spoon out of my mouth and, still smirking, said, "Finished." as I waved the spoon in front of my face.

"Damn." He deadpanned.

"What? I could eat more, but new trainers are on tight budgets, you know." I threw out casually.

He looked at me a little incredulously before smiling to show his huge ass shark teeth. I pulled out my pokedex at him again.

At his look I replied, "Just checking."

And that smile was back, "Hey kid, I have an idea."

"This should be good." I mumbled boredly.

"How about you and me have a drinking contest!" he proclaimed.

"I'm fifteen." I deadpanned.

"As soon as they see me, the bartenders won't even ask."

"I've never had alcohol once in my life."

"Didn't think so."

"What's the catch?"

"Loser pays the bill."

I looked him dead in his beady eyes and knew that he got this idea from my comment about my tight budget.

"What's wrong, kid? Afraid you're gonna lose?" He's drunk off his ass and doesn't even slur. This guy's a pro.

"No, I'm almost absolutely sure I'm going to lose. I'm going to lose and pay tons of money if I'm foolish enough to take the bait." I pointed out.

"And that's why you're going down." I said with a glint in my eye.

He showed me those teeth again and commented, "Even though you've never drunk alcohol before?"

"Impossible odds are my favorite odds." I replied with a smirk, "They make the win that much greater."

He bellowed at my statement before standing up while saying, "Well let's get started, then."

"No."

He looked at me confusedly, "No?"

"I'll take you on if and only if you're sober." I stated adamantly. His quiet friend simply raised an eyebrow as if to ask _"Do you want to lose that badly?"_

Fishface chuckled, "I like you, kid. You've got spunk. I'm Kisame, this is Itachi." He said gesturing to Quiet-Guy.

"I'm Sakura." I replied.

"If you want to lose that badly, meet me at Dick's Bar tomorrow at 6pm." He said as he and his friend got up to leave.

"… Dick's Bar? Seriously, who names a place Dick's Bar?" I asked as they left, I could still hear Kisame's laughter.

Suddenly, Kylie the Waitress came with the bill and some after-dinner candies, "Thank you for eating here today, please come again." She finished with a wink.

I smiled as she left and took out my checkbook. The bill was $100.95. I sighed as I signed the check before ripping it up and writing a new one. Now it was $115, thanks to the waitress. Hell, she deserved it.

As I left with my pokemon securely on my shoulders cheering me on for the drinking contest, I thought about my current funds.

At first I had $500.

After my shopping spree, I had $320.

After eating, I now have $205.

And I still need to pay for the hotel.

Fuck.

I sighed once again as a gloom cloud hung over my head.

Pikachu and Caterpie nodded in understanding, then we all sighed.

I heard that when you win a battle, the loser has to give you something. Like money, or items.

FUCK!

.:0.o.0:.

Once we got home, I showered and went over my current items again. After I finished, I realized what time it was and got into bed. Hugging Pikachu and Caterpie close to myself, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I couldn't help but cringe. I made a bet with a pro drunk that I could beat him in a drinking contest, and if I lose I'll have to pay. Fuck fuckity fuckerson.

'_**Way to get fancy on the fucks.'**_ Inner commented.

'_Just shut up and let me sulk.'_ I retorted.

I got up and got ready for the day. By the time I was done it was 9:30, and Pikachu and Caterpie were awake and energized. We got our stuff and had some of the complementary breakfast downstairs.

.:0.o.0:.

The rest of the day was per usual. We trained until we couldn't train anymore, I stopped by the Pokemon Center and gave Pikachu and Caterpie a check-up, and we trained some more.

At about 4pm, I decided we were done for the day and went back to the hotel for a shower. Checking my items once again, I got dressed and begrudgingly went to Dick's Bar.

Just so you know, I arrived 10 minutes early. So Pikachu, Caterpie, and I played some card games like BS. Nothing too serious.

Finally, after TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES, the two assholes came.

"Are you fucking kidding me, you're late!" I glared at them. I must've looked adorable.

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd show up." Kisame chuckled.

And suddenly all my worry, my fear, my depression melted into anger.

"You're goin' down, bitch." I challenged him.

"Hehe, now that's more like it!" he chuckled as he and his friend led me inside the bar.

We sat down on opposite sides of a large table. I glared and he gave me a cocky smirk.

"So how you wanna play this, by the shotglass?" he teased.

"You pick." I retorted with a smirk.

And so, he ordered a waitress to pour them sake in some whiskey glasses.

He smirked as he raised the glass to his lips.

But I beat him to it. Though knowing how stupid, irrational, and dangerous this was, I downed the sake in a single breath. It burned and stung as it made its way down my throat, but at the same time it felt… great. But I couldn't afford to get buzzed now, so determinedly, I slammed the glass upside down and motioned for another.

.:0.o.0:.

After a few minutes, we had amassed a crowd. Most of them were cheering me and my 'steel liver' on. But we had already downed eight bottles of sake, and I could feel the effects. My vision was getting blurry and the room was starting to spin, and that bastard didn't even look affected.

With renewed determination, I forced the buzz on Inner _(I can do that?)_ and downed another glass.

"You're not bad, kid. You sure this is your first time." He smirked.

"Damn right it is!"

Another fifteen minutes passed and the room was filled with spectators. Cheering, laughing, and betting was heard all around, but I didn't pay attention to it. I had already pushed as much drunkenness onto Inner as I could without her passing out. I needed that bitch right now.

Of all those cheering, Pikachu was the loudest. Caterpie sat silently cheering me on, but Pikachu would Thunderbolt whenever I wavered. He steeled my resolve and helped me this far.

Now _both_ Kisame and I were drunk. Not buzzed, drunk. We wavered and slurred, and pink danced across our cheeks. But I knew I couldn't keep this up much longer. I ight have been able to trick my brain by using Inner, but it's catching on fast. My vision is blurred, my words are slurred, my arm feels heavy, and I feel like I'm about to puke. And worst of all, I'm beginning to see black spots dance across my vision. I do _not_ need some hippy black spots right now!

"Ready to give up?" he slurred.

"Fuck you." I said clear as day.

We continued like this for fifteen more glasses until I could _not_ take it any longer. I put my empty glass upside down and sluggishly reached for my new one. I shakily grabbed it and pulled it up to my face. I was seriously about to puke right now, but I bit back the desire and slowly chugged doen the liquid. My hand dropped the glass onto the table and people cheered.

Kisame was worse for wear too, but I knew he could keep going. With that in mind, in my slumped form on the table I grabbed another glass. Chugging it and setting it down, people cheered even louder.

I had to use my elbows to keep from falling over now. I knew this was it. If I could drink this glass, I'd be satisfied. So I grabbed the glass, and in one courageous act, I downed the damn thing. My body was completely slumped on the table now, as I shakily put the glass upside down and my arm dropped on the table.

The crowd cheered and anguished. Kisame won. I'm left with the bill. People were dancing and cheering and having a blast. The bartender was very happy with the business. I was about to pass out.

"That was great, kid!" Drunk Kisame exclaimed as he patted me on the back, which caused me to slump forward even more and nearly puke.

"Ugh…" I was able to reply.

"You've got spunk. No one challenges me anymore! It sucks!" he slurred.

"Your ass… is mine… next time." I was able to groan out.

"Heh, I look forward to it. And since you showed me such a good time, I'll cover the bill for you." He smiled crookedly.

I froze. I don't have to pay? I shot out of my seat and yelled "SHANAROOO!" before dropping down onto the table. My cry only increased the mood.

I was clutching my stomach now, the gloom lines on my forehead more prominent than ever.

"Hehe, I'll even throw in a gift, kid. Here." He said while throwing me a pokeball.

I couldn't catch it in my current condition, but luckily Pikachu was able to do that for me.

"Pika?" he asked in question.

"That there's a newbie I caught for the hell of it. It's yours now." He laughed.

"Th… thanks." I was able to say.

I tried to get up, but only stumbled and fell-

'_OH SHIT!'_

-into a pair of arms.

"Thanks." I said as I looked up to see who caught me.

To say I was surprised was an understatement. It was Kisame's friend, Itachi. He never spoke and hardly regarded me as a person. And he just helped me. Damn.

"Hn." He replied as he helped me with my footing.

'_**He's so fucking HOT!'**_ Drunken Inner squealed in my head.

'_SHUT UP!'_

"Maybe we should help you home, Pinky. The streets are dangerous at night." Kisame chuckled.

"If the room stopped spinning, I'd hit you right now." I retorted.

"Of course you would." He chuckled again as he and Itachi helped me out of the bar, after paying though.

When we got back to my hotel room, I turned around and thanked them.

"No problem Pinky."

"Hn." I suppose that was a good 'hn.'

Pikachu shooed them away and I crashed onto my glorious bed. I was unconscious before my face hit the pillow.

.:0.o.0:.

When the daylight hit my face, I let out a string of obscenities and shoved my face back into my pillow. I felt terrible. I had such a headache and did not want to get up, until I got the insane urge to go to the bathroom.

After doing my business, I washed my hands and did a shoddy job of getting ready. My shirt was crinkled and the button to my jeans was undone. Fixing that, I decided to go eat when I ran to the toilet and puked my heart out.

"That feels so much better." I shakily said, before puking again.

After about five more minutes of this, my stomach ran out of things to puke up and I was able to catch my breath. I shakily stood with help from the sink. I then cleaned up again and took a few pain killers from my medi-pack.

I knew that if I called Kakashi, he would freak out and such. So I decided to wait until I felt 100% again. After about thirty minutes of trying to walk normally, I was able to make it to the counter and pay the receptionist.

The total was $130.

I was left with $75.

I sighed as I put the checkbook back in my bag when I noticed a third pokeball. My memory is really fuzzy from all that alcohol, but if I remember correctly… Kisame gave me this! That drunk asshole is actually not that bad.

I took it out and summoned the pokemon. Out came a Squirtle.

"Squirtle!" he said angrily.

I looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to stay with me, do you?"

He looked at my face befor blushing and proclaiming, "Squirtle squirt!"

I blinked, "You're staying? Because you think I need a bodyguard?"

Normally I'd be pissed, but this made me happy.

I beamed at him, "Well come on, Squirtle. You'll need to help me out of the city." I teased. Pikachu sparked in jealousy. Still blushing, Squirtle walked in front of me to a diner that I wanted to stp by.

After eating, we began to make our way out of the city. Though blocking the central plaza was a huge crowd. I groaned at the obstacle and made my way through the crowd to see what was going on.

I heard fire clash with fire, literally.

When I made my way to the front, I felt more pissed off than that morning.

"Teme!"

"Hn."

* * *

><p><strong>Comment and Review!<strong> If you want me to update faster, then _share with me, **motivate** me, _**DO SOMETHING, DAMMIT!**

**Sakura:** ... seriously.


	4. Naruto

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, or else the plot line would match my stories, and it wouldn't be called Naruto.

**P.S.** Naruto is a ramen ingredient, go figure.

* * *

><p>This was really not my morning. First I wake up with a hangover, then I find myself almost broke. And now, a pair of morons are fighting in town square, blocking the quickest route to the forest.<p>

Shit was about to go down.

"What the hell's going on here?" I asked the blonde girl with a ponytail next to me.

"I dunno exactly, but that blonde kid started it." She told me.

"What makes you say that?"

She looked at me as if I just said I've never heard of a pokemon before, "Sasuke-kun is way too cool for that."

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Whatever."

"Kyuubi, Flamethrower! Hah, take that Teme!" yelled the blonde one.

"Hn, block. Tackle." Emo-Asshole replied.

'_**Hahaha! Emo-Asshole! Now that's funny, hahaha!'**_

'_Shut the hell up Inner, it's not that funny.'_

'_**You don't have to be such a bitch about it. I have a hangover too, you know.'**_

'_Ignoring you.'_

'_**You can't ignore m-'**_

'_Officially ignored.'_

I was just about to celebrate my mini victory when the blonde girl from before screamed into my ear and ran, along with the rest of the crowd.

It was then that I saw the group of embers flying in my direction.

I was about to move out of the way when Squirtle saved my ass.

"Squirtle-Squirt!" he yelled as he shot a watergun to hose down the embers. It worked beautifully.

"Thanks Squirtle!" I chirped as I patted his head in adoration.

"Squirtle." He replied, blushing.

I could sense the murderous aura emanating from Pikachu. Lightning clashed with water in between them as Squirtle smirked in triumph and Pikachu glared in jealousy. I was worried that a fight might break out when the blonde guy came running over to me.

"Hey! Sorry about that, are you okay?" he yelled. He seems to yell a lot.

Instantly, Pikachu and Squirtle turned to look at him. The poor guy backed up in fear after seeing their glare.

"Yeah, I'm fine. More importantly, why the fuck were you blocking the road?" I yelled at him. My mood was worse than PMS today, and I did not need to get pissed off anymore.

Instantly he recovered and pointed to the other guy while yelling, "Because that Teme called me Dead Last!"

I was quiet for a few seconds before replying, "… Whatever."

I then began walking in my previous direction out of town. But the blonde guy just ran in front of me and thrust out his hand.

"I'm Naruto, believe it! That's Sasuke-teme over there." He said pointing to the emo guy.

"Oh, the emo guy?" I muttered, but loud enough for them to hear.

Naruto instantly began laughing so hard, he had to bend over and hold his stomach. Seriously? What the hell is so funny?

Emo guy just glared and muttered, "Hn."

"Is that all he ever says?" I asked Naruto in exasperation.

"Pretty annoying, huh? Believe it!" he replied.

'_Believe what?'_ I thought.

'_**Who knows…'**_

"So what's your starter pokemon?" Naruto asked.

This seemed to grab Sasuke's attention, though he tried to hide it, "Hn."

"Pikachu." I responded as I scratched Pikachu's chin.

"Seriously? That's so cool, what clan do you belong to?" he asked excitedly.

"Clan? I don't belong to a clan, Kakashi-sensei just decided Pikachu would be my starter pokemon. Well, he was a Pichu at first, but you catch my drift." I told them.

As I mentioned Kakashi-sensei's name, Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction. They looked at each other questioningly before Pikachu interrupted.

"Pika!" he reminded me.

"Oh yeah! Nice meeting you guys _**('Not really.')**_, but we have to go." I said as I turned to leave. But Naruto stopped me once again, and this time Sasuke was following close behind him.

"Let's have a battle!" he proclaimed.

"Huh?" was my ever-smart response.

"A pokemon battle! You and me!" he yelled.

"Will you stop yelling if I do?" I asked, rubbing my ears.

"Uh-huh!" he said while nodding his head furiously.

"And the princess?" I asked, motioning to Sasuke.

"He can fight the winner!" he said, puffing out his chest.

'_**Cocky prick thinks he's won already.'**_

'_We'll just have to disappoint him, now won't we?"_

"_**Hehehe…'**_

"Okay, I'm up for it, but why the sudden interest?" I asked.

"We wanna see how strong you are." He said as we walked towards the forest.

"I'm plenty strong, and my pokemon are strong as hell, too." I said as Pikachu sparked with a smirk. Caterpie rubbed against my cheek affectionally, while Squirtle slightly blushed.

"Hn, we'll see." Sasuke said.

I turned to look at him, "I don't like you."

"Hn."

'_**Little fucker-'**_

"But, man. Kakashi's your teacher?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Yeah, and?" I retorted.

"Well-" but he was cut off before he could explain by the sound of a pokemon battle.

'_**Son of a bitch!'**_

'_And we were just about to find out, too.' _I sighed.

"They stole our spot!" Naruto yelled as he raced to the fight. Sasuke just "hn'd," but you could hear the irritation in his tone. Faint, but still there.

I thanked my good senses. If you're going to learn from an apathetic pervert, you really have to see the signs.

We followed Naruto to the fight just as he began yelling at the current opponents.

When I got there, I realized the two people _must_ be related because they have the same genetic mutation: pearl irises with no pupils.

'_**Huh, Kakashi actually taught us something.'**_

'_Just shut up.'_

Upon closer inspection, the guy seemed to be older and had long chocolate colored hair tied in a low ponytail. He also seemed like an asshole. The girl, however, was cute and shy. She had waist-length dark purple hair and wore a heavy coat, but it did nothing to hide her curves.

'_**If only we had boobs like that.'**_

'_Yeah- Wait, why am I agreeing with you?'_

I frowned. The girl stuttered and couldn't make up her mind on an attack.

'_No wonder she's losing.'_

The guy seemed pissed and kept belittling her. Then he glared at Naruto who interrupted their fight. I noticed that the girl blushed cherry-red at the sight of the moron.

'_**Ooo, she is crushing on him!'**_

'_Do they know eachother?'_

Naruto tells her his name.

'_Apparently not.'_

I wasn't paying attention, but apparently Naruto said something about being stronger than Asshole, and a pokemon battle was about to ensue.

"Naruto! Quit being a dumbass!" I shouted at him.

"Hn, you should listen to her before you get hurt." Asshole said.

"I bet a week's supply of ramen that I could beat you in less than a minute!"

'_**The guy must love his ramen.'**_

"An unnecessary sacrifice." He said solemnly.

'_Well they have that in common.'_

'_**Hm? They have something **_**in common**_**?'**_

'_They both think they've won already.'_

'_**You're right! Now I'm pissed off!'**_

'_Why do you have to be the stupid half?'_

'_**Because you like being the smart half, so I end up pissing you off.'**_

'_You evil genius.'_

'_**Hold the compliments, please.'**_

'_Shut up, they're still talking.'_

"Well, why were you yelling at her?" he said, pointing to the shy girl.

Well that caught my interest.

"She's weak-" pang "-and useless-" pang. Note that the pangs are imaginary arrows stabbing my body as those are two of my most hated words. They're always directed at me, though.

Oh, this ass is going down.

"I'm gonna kick your ass for saying that!" he exclaimed. Insert blushing shy girl here.

"Naruto…" I threatened. This dumbass is not going to get into another fight, it's bad for his pokemon.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before hitting his fist on his palm in an "oh, I remember now" gesture. He then tuned toward me while sheepishly rubbing his neck.

"That's not what I meant." I muttered to myself.

"Well, whatever." I said as Pikachu entered the imaginary ring. I then hesitated and said to the shy girl, "Watch our battle closely. Notice the quick, clear orders we give. When you stutter and hesitate, your pokemon become confused and are easy to defeat. A good trainer needs strong leadership. This'll be a one-on-one battle."

Instead, I turned to the asshole with Pikachu following suit and said, "My name's Sakura Haruno, and I'm gonna kick your ego in the balls."

'_I can't believe you made me say that.'_

'_**Honey, that was all you.'**_

Naruto's whine of disapproval turned into a hysterical laughter. I told him to shut up, but apparently it was too much to hold in.

"Fine, if you insist. I am Neji Hyuuga. Come, Duskull." He said while calmly summoning his pokemon.

I pulled out my pokedex. I already knew about this pokemon, but I wanted to leave nothing to chance.

"_Duskull, the Grim Reaper pokemon. Duskull can pass through any wall, no matter how thick it may be. Once this pokemon chooses a target, it will doggedly pursue the intended victim until the break of dawn."_

'_Shit, a ghost pokemon. And Hyuuga… Hyuuga… where have I heard that name before?'_

'_**Hmm, I can't seem to place it.'**_

'_Well, whatever.'_

"Come on, Pikachu. Let's teach this bastard his place." I said to him as he sparked in excitement.

"This will be quick. Duskull, disable." He commanded. His pokemon obliged.

"Quick attack, Pikachu!" I yelled as Pikachu sped off.

Pikachu was a blur as he caught the Duskull off guard during his power up, and hit him square in the stomach. He staggered, but recovered quickly.

"Hn, cheap shot," Neji waved off, "Foresight!"

"Tackle!" I ordered Pikachu. He went in for it, but Duskull easily evaded him.

'_Tch, that foresight's a pain in the ass.'_

'_**What should we do?'**_

'_How do you fight something that can predict your moves?'_

'_**Hmm… by being **_**two**_** steps ahead?'**_

'_You _are_ useful sometimes, like a lazy librarian.'_

'_**I try.'**_

With that thought in mind, I began planning what to do to defeat this obviously high leveled pokemon.

'_Well the Pikachu stage is renowned for its speed rather than strength, so maybe a diversion would work best.'_

_** 'But did you see the way he fought that girl? Do you really think he'll fall for a diversion?'**_

'_Yes. I've come to learn that the best people to fall for diversions are not stupid, but instead cocky.'_

'_**And he's the cockiest bastard of them all.'**_

And so I decided to do the most obvious diversion of all time, "Pikachu, quick attack!"

"Disable."

Right before Pikachu hit Duskull he bounced off, as if repelled by a force field of sorts. But now Duskull was open.

"Thunderbolt!"

And in midair, Pikachu threw a bolt to the recovering Duskull, and cleanly knocked him out.

Neji's eyes widened in disbelief. His clan Duskull had to have been at least 10-20 levels higher than her Pikachu, and yet it lost. And that bolt… is was stronger than any Thunderbolt he's seen, at least for the extremely low level of the pokemon.

I was about to go catch Pikachu, who was still in midair, when I heard a sound in the forest. Pikachu landed on his feet, a little winded, and tried jumping into my arms when a mechanical claw flew out of the trees and grabbed him. The rest of the machine then came into view, and I saw three… people on top.

"_Prepare for trouble."_

"_Make it double__."_

"_To protect the world from devastation,"_

"_To unite all people within our nations__,"_

"_To denounce the evil of truth and love,"_

"_To extend our reach to the skies above__,"_

"_Karin."_

"_Juugo__."_

"_Team Taka, blast off at the speed of light,"_

"_Surrender now or prepare to fight__."_

"Suigetsu, that's right!"

… The fuck?

And did that pokemon just talk? Wait, is it turning into a human?

"We choose fight!" Naruto yealled up at them, "And give Sakura-chan her Pikachu back!"

"Oh, this Pikachu?" She said as Suigetsu used a remote to bring the claw up to them, "I'm afraid it's _ours_ now."

"Kyuubi, Flamethrower!" Naruto growled.

Unfortunately, the flamethrower didn't go high enoughand team Taka just laughed. Kyuubi growled and tried again, to no avail.

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" I yelled out to him.

"Pika-chuu!" He yelled as the bolt released, only it was much smaller and weaker than before.

"Shit! Must've used up too much electricity against Neji." I mumbled.

As I was contemplating just what the fuck I should do, I heard a soft command behind me.

"B-Butterfree! Sleep Powder!" Shy girl squeaked out.

"Butterfree!" It coughed out as it floated over Team Taka and unleashed its Sleep Powder. It took effect immediately and soon, Team Taka was snoring. Now for the machine.

"Good job Shy Girl!" I beamed at her. She just blushed at the compliment.

"Say, can your Butterfree take Caterpie up there to get the remote?" I asked her.

She just nodded slightly and called Butterfree down to pick up Caterpie.

"String Shot!" I yelled to Caterpie as he picked up the remote and began to come back down, but alas it was not meant to be.

As he was bringing it up, the remote slipped and fell on Karin's head. And then fell on the floor, where it broke.

Karin was brought out of her sleep by the hit and stood up glaring at me, "You little bitch, how dare you hit me? And you woke me out of my precious beauty sleep, too!" she yelled at me.

"Honey, trust me. No amount of beauty sleep will fix _that_." I tell her casually.

"Argh! Ekans!" she screams as she summons out a snake pokemon. I pull out my pokedex.

"_Ekans, the snake pokemon. When first born it has no poison, so its bite is painful, but harmless."_ Said the mechanical female voice of the pokedex.

Well, let's just hope it's a baby, then.

"Poison sting!" apparently not.

Suddenly, purple needles shot from its mouth and towards me. I jumped back and grabbed Hinata, before dodging the incoming spikes.

"Squirtle, Watergun!" I yelled. He immediately shot a jet of water up at them, but only managed to reach the middle and attachment to the claw.

'_Perfect.'_ I thought and shut out my mind before Inner could say something stupid.

Above Karin's obnoxious laughter I turned to Pikachu and yelled out, "Pikachu, store energy!"

A bit confused, Pikachu did as I requested and began building up sparks. Right before Ekans could lash out again, Pikachu filled to the brim of what electricity he had left.

"Now, THUNDERBOLT!" I commanding while pointing to the wet parts of the machine.

"Pika-CHUUU!" he cried out as the bolt of electricity destroyed the machine and sent Team Taka flying to the heavens.

"_We're blasting off!"_

"And there they go." I huff before running to catch my unconscious Pikachu.

"Shit, I gotta go you guys. Sorry we can't battle Naruto." I said as I turned to look at him.

Unfortunately his jaw was on the floor, replaced with a look of awe on his face.

"That. Was. So. Cool!" He drawled out. He then beamed at me before looking behind him all smug.

"See Teme? I told you she was strong!" When?

"Hn."

"Oh! I forgot you were still here." I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. I then turned to the shy girl behind me and did a little bow before saying, "And thank you for helping me. You were clear and commanding, keep at it."

"o-oh, no. I-I didn't do anything." She replied while twiddling her thumbs.

"Well, whatever you say. But I still thank you for it." I smiled at her.

"O-oh. M-My name is H-Hinata Hyuuga. Th-Thank you for the ad-advice." She bowed deeply to me, her face beet red.

"No prob. I hope we meet again someday!" I said before grabbing Caterpie, who Butterfree set down on the ground, and running off towards the town.

.:0.o.0:.

Hello, my name is Nurse Shizune. How may I help you today?" asked the pretty nurse behind the counter. She had a very traditional look, despite her outfit, with cropped black hair ending just above her shoulders.

"Hey, this is Pikachu. We were fighting some machine and he ended up using all of his electricity and passing out. Can you fix him up?" I asked worriedly.

"No problem. Wait a few moments please." She smiled sympathetically at my worry. A Chansey came and wheeled Pikachu away, leaving me to sit down in the waiting room.

I took out my pokedex to call Kakashi-sensei when a loud voice interrupted.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled to me.

"Naruto, keep your voice down. We're in a hospital." I scolded him.

"Hehe, sorry about that." He smiled sheepishly.

"So? Why're you here?" I asked him. I don't mean to sound like a bitch, but I've had a terrible day today.

He instantly beamed and said, "The way you took down that machine was so cool! And you beat that Neji-teme down too. You are way stronger than I expected."

"…I'll take that as a compliment." I replied.

"Uh, yeah. So anyways, I was wondering, well, if we could… you know…" he trailed off embarrassed.

"Spit it out Naruto." I said.

'_**He wants us.'**_

'_Don't go all hormonal teenager on me.'_

'_**I know, but at least make him work for it.'**_

'_The fuck do you think I'm doing?'_

"I was wondering if you wanted to… travel together." He finished with a blush.

I gave him a blank look as we let that statement hang in the air.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

"Sure, why not?" I replied coolly.

"Eh? Really? Yes!" He yelled while pumping his fist in the air, before I smacked the back of his head and hissed,

"This is a fucking _hospital_, keep your voice down!"

"Ehehe, sorry about that."

And that's how I got stuck with a lovable idiot.

* * *

><p>So, what'dya think?<p>

**Sorry about not updating in **_forever_**, but her it is in it's 3,000-ish word glory.**

Don't forget to review the hell out of it, telling me what's **good**, what's **bad**, what you'd **like to see**, and anything else **you want to add**.

And don't worry, Neji won't be an ass for long.


	5. Lee

**Disclaimer:** If I owned either Naruto or Pokemon, I'd be rich and sipping an iced tea in my mansion-like house.

* * *

><p>"So, Sakura-chan, how many pokemon do you have?" Naruto asked as we made our way through the forest.<p>

"These are them." I replied coolly while gesturing to my pokemon.

"My first pokemon was Pichu, but after an incident he evolved into a Pikachu." I said while scratching under Pikachu's chin.

"Incident?" he asked.

"Yeah, I summoned him and he ran away, but when I found him trapped by a Team Sound machine, I broke the glass and set him free. Unfortunately, a claw through me on my back and I blacked out after Pichu evolved. Now he loves me." I cooed as Pikachu blushed.

"Wait, you _broke_ the glass? That's amazing! You must be super strong!" Naruto yelled with a pumped up fist.

"So, how'd you get the others?" he asked with that adorable curious look. Oh, I just want to HUG HIM!

'_**Whoa, whoa, calm your ass down.'**_

'_Coming from you? I feel insulted.'_

'_**The feeling's mutual.'**_

After explaining how I got the others, I asked Naruto about his pokemon.

"Me? Oh, I have about three pokemon!" he yelled with a thumbs up.

"That's pretty cool, what are they?" I ask.

"There's my Vulpix, Kyuubi, that almost killed you-"

"Well, isn't he a bottle of sunshine?"

"-then there's my Chikorita-"

"He's not listening is he?"

"and, last but not least, Scyther!" he finished with a grin.

'_**I guess not.'**_

"A Scyther?! Pardon my language, but how could a naïve, boneheaded dolt such as you find a Scyther?" I asked with a blank face as I walked ahead of him.

"Luck." Naruto said proudly before pausing and yelling out a "Hey!" and began running to catch up to me.

"So, where are we going?" Naruto asked during our travels.

"The Nibi Gym in Pewter City, it's going to be my first gym battle." I told him sheepishly.

"Wow, me too I guess!" Naruto said.

I looked at him with surprise etched on my face, "You haven't had a Gym battle yet?"

"Well you haven't either!" he shouted back childishly.

"Yeah, but I had to wait a week because of my injury from that incident with Team Sound." I smiled at him.

I sweat dropped as he fell to the ground woefully.

"It's all Teme's fault!" he cried.

Fed up, I punched him upside the head and scolded him, "Stop acting like a child!"

"Waah stop hitting me, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelped while covering his head with his arms.

"Get up, we're almost there! You can even see the town from here!" I yelled and gave him another stomp.

"Oh, really?" Naruto said, instantly recovering and acting like nothing happened.

"Yep, race you there." I smirked, mimicking his reaction.

"Heh, sorry but you'll- Hey, wait!" He yelled when I ran ahead.

"You cheater!" was heard behind me.

"It's not cheating if there are no rules! Run, Squirtle! Run as fast as your stubby legs can take you!" I yelled to him

"Squirtle!" he replied and increased his speed.

"Vulpix, I choose you! Ember!" Naruto commanded.

I had just enough time to jump on my stomach before the flames flew overhead. Getting up, I glared at Naruto.

"No rules, right?" he ran past me with a foxy grin.

Growling, I scrambled to me feet and yelled, "Squirtle, Watergun! Then Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

The resulting high-pitched scream was hilarious.

Once we got to town, both Naruto and I were heaving and Squirtle was on his stomach trying to breathe. We tiredly made our way to the Pokemon Center, earning several questionable looks. Then again, we were a couple of teenagers with strange characteristics (i.e. pink hair and whisker markings) with torn, burnt, and soaking clothes with a trio of pokemon dragging us along.

"I-I won!" Naruto shouted in between pants.

"I had to carry a couple of pokemon on my shoulders, so it's a tie by default." I informed him with a huff.

"… So, I didn't win?" he asked.

"Not fairly." His head hung in remorse at my statement.

After dropping our pokemon off at the Pokemon Center, Naruto and I got a hotel room with two beds and both took nice, long, hot showers. Well, at least I did. Toward the end of his shower, I heard Naruto yelp from the cold. Hehe.

"Sakura-chan, why'd you take all of the hot water?!" he whined while pointing an accusing finger at me.

I blinked at him and bit his finger, "You were in there longer than I was, dumbass."

"Because it got cold all of a sudden!" he retorted while holding his injured hand to his chest.

"Quit being a baby and get dressed." I said, gesturing to his towel-clad only body.

"Man, I can't wait for my first real gym battle! I'm gonna win for sure, believe it!" Naruto yelled with his fist pumped in the air.

"Your first 'real' gym battle?" I asked.

"Yeah, my dad's been training me since the moment I could hold a pokeball." Naruto said proudly.

_'He seems so proud.'_

_**'Yeah, he didn't even yell this time!'**_

_'You bitch! You ruined my sentimental moment!'_

"Uh, are you okay Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, bringing me out of my stupor. I then noticed he was way into my personal space.

"Yeah, just talking to the voice in my head." I told him nonchalantly.

He stared at me for a second, "…That… is soo cool." He beamed and ran to catch up to me.

"Yup, she even helped me win a drinking contest!"

And so, we talked about my declining sanity on our way to the Pokemon Center, where we picked up our pokemon- of which, mine tackled me- and went to place a call.

"Who are you calling?" Naruto asked.

"You'll see in a sec." I told him as the monitor began to flicker before Kakashi popped onto the screen.

_"Yo."_ He said with a crinkled eye.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! I want you to meet Naruto Uzumaki, an idiot that's now traveling with me." I chirped, ignoring a "Hey!" behind me.

_"Uzumaki, eh? Hey, how's it going?"_ he asked Naruto boredly.

"It's really Kakashi! You weren't kidding, Sakura-chan." Naruto said with surprised eyes.

"I don't get what's so special about a pervert who's late to everything." I mumbled.

"Hm, you don't know Sakura-chan? Kakashi is-" hewas cut off by a menacing glare from the demon on the tv monitor, "-um, he was a friend of my parents'!" Naruto covered.

_"Yes, Naruto's dad was _my_ professor."_ Kakashi said, surprising both of them.

"That's cool, what are the chances, huh?" I mumbled to myself.

"Ooh, Sensei! Guess what, I now have a total of three pokemon!" I cheered with my fist pumped in the air, "There's Pikachu, Caterpie, and Squirtle!" I picked up said pokemon and showed him. Squirtle gave Kakashi a peace sign.

_"Impressive, where'd you find a Squirtle?"_ Kakashi asked.

"It was a gift from a guy I had a drinking game with. You know, I realized that I have a steel liver. But don't worry sensei, I didn't pass out so I'm still a virgin." I told him with a thumbs up.

Kakashi was silent for a moment as he tried processing what his student just said, _"I-Is that so?"_

I nodded my head with a smile before remembering one of the reasons I called him, "Oh yeah, actually both me and Naruto are about to have our very first gym battle. Is there anything we should know before walking to our untimely demise?"

_"Well first, don't go until you're sure you're ready. Any doubt will prove fatal."_

"Got it." I nodded while Naruto took out a notepad and began writing down Kakashi's advice.

_"Then check the requirements, many gyms only accept a certain minimum of pokemon." _Kakashi told us.

"A minimum? Like we must have at least three pokemon or something to fight?" I asked him.

_"Exactly. And also, you might want to snoop around the town, specifically the pokemon center and such. It's always a good idea to know what you're up against."_ He concluded.

"It doesn't sound as hard as I thought it would be." Naruto mumbled aloud.

"Oh, I have one more question, Sensei." I told him.

_"What is it?"_ he asked with a crinkled-eye smile.

"How did you know all that?" he froze, "I mean, aren't you just a professor?"

_"Well, um-"_

"and this pokedex, too…" I took out said object, "I thought only trainers have these."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it after Kakashi sent him a shut-up-or-I'll-spill-ramen-in-front-of-you-and-then-kill-you glare. I just cocked my head to the side in confusion, not sure as to just what is going on.

_"I research pokemon, it's what I live for."_ He said, though not completely truthfully.

"I thought Icha Icha was what you lived for."

_"Ha ha, well I gotta go, so bye!" _Kakashi chirped and logged off.

"Icha Icha?" Naruto asked as we went to the front desk where a nurse Shizune was checking files on the computer.

"Porn." I answered as Shizune stood to greet us.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center. If I'm not mistaken, you picked up your pokemon just a few minutes ago, correct?" she said rhetorically and with a smile.

"Yeah, we were just wondering if you knew anything about the gym leader in this town." I told her.

"Well, I do hear bits and pieces. And the leader himself does come by to heal his pokemon."

"Alright! I'm so gonna kick his ass, believe it!" Naruto yelled.

I punched him into the ground and yelled at him, "We're in a hospital! Stop yelling!"

"You can be a real hypocrite, you know that Sakura-chan?" Naruto mumbled as he got up and began nursing the bump on his head.

"Good boy. You were saying?" I motioned for Shizune to continue speaking.

She sweat dropped, "W-Well as I was saying, the gym leader has ground and fighting type pokemon, since it's the earth gym."

"I see… good thing I have you Squirtle." I cuddled him. He blushed and sent a smug glare to Pikachu, who was on my shoulder, and I swear I saw lightning.

"Aw man, I'm screwed." Naruto whined.

"Quit being a big baby." I scolded him.

"Oh and there's one more thing," Shizune suddenly said. When we looked at her she continued,

"I believe his name is Rock Lee."

* * *

><p><strong>Whew,<strong> that took a while.

Sorry it took so long, I tend to get lazy in summer.

An update on life:

** -School starts Thursday.** Yep, you read right. Thursday.

**-I'm designing my own covers for my stories****.** Unfortunately, I'm having trouble on this one.

Which brings me to this chapter's question:

**-Any ideas for the Thunderbolt cover?**

**-Also, you guys should give me a deadline by which to submit the chapters.**

Don't forget the reviews that make me write faster! 'Til next time.


	6. Sasuke

**Disclaimer: If I owned either series, I would have a library bigger than the one at school dedicated to manga! TT_TT**

_*****__Important message at end of chapter_**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Well that couldn't have been more ironic." I said as we left the Pokémon Center.<p>

_'Rock Lee, huh?'_ I had to wonder what kind a person would have a name like _that_.

"Man, that's so unfair! You have the advantage now!" Naruto pouted at me.

"That's life, kid. Get used to it." I told him nonchalantly.

"Training! Now!" he yelled while running into the forest.

I paused to blink and stare at the direction he ran in before cursing. Naruto had left me with all of the work, like finding a hotel.

_**'What if we, you know, forgot the hotel's name?'**_

I smirked, '_And maybe we also forgot our wallet.'_

_**'Hehe.'**_

With those happy thoughts in mind, I skipped off to find a good hotel that Naruto would pay for.

Having found a nice and expensive hotel that served breakfast, I decided it was high time to stalk the gym leader.

_**'So you admit that we're stalking him?'**_

_ 'When have I ever lied about stalking?'_

_**'That's reasonable.'**_

_'Why are you so smart-sounding now?'_

_**'Someone needs to fill the void.'**_

Glaring at the alter ego in my head I tiptoed to the gym, well aware of the residents' strange looks.

_**'Your skills are rusty.'**_

I ignored her and ran when I saw the gym's entrance after thirty minutes of wandering around town looking for it. It was a really huge building, in my opinion. And very bland. Why were all buildings except for the Pokémon Center BLAND?!

I was interrupted from by bout of insanity by a familiar duck leaving the gym. Moving one of my hands from its previous position of hair pulling to rub my chin, I missed the emo-duck walking in my direction and raising its eyebrow at me.

"Oh yeah! You're that emo guy that helped me get nearly killed!" I laughed loudly with a snap of my fingers in realization.

"Why were you in the gym, got your ass handed to ya?" I laughed again.

"Hn." was his only response as he began to walk past her.

"Wait, is that a good "Hn." or a bad "Hn."?" I ran backwards to receive an answer.

"Hn." And then he left. What a prick.

"And to think I was only trying to dislodge that stick up his ass." I shrugged and shook my head.

"SAAAAAAAKUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAA-CHAAAAAAN! " a voice bellowed out from somewhere close by in the town.

"WHEEEEEEERRRRRRRRE AAAAAAARRRRRE YOOOOOOUUUUUU- oh there you are." Naruto ran up to me.

"Done already, that was quick." I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

Naruto put a hand on his chest in mock hurt, "I did not do dirty things to myself."

"I never said you did~." I chirped with a sing-song voice.

"I forgot to ask where the hotel is." He told me as we began walking.

"Hm? Oh, it's right there," I said, pointing to a shining hotel made for the gods. I moved my finger to point at him, "You're paying."

I skipped inside with Naruto's cries and whining following close behind. Our room was on the second floor, room 203.

As I opened the door I had to cover my eyes from the blinding light that emanated from within. As it died down, I uncovered my eyes to see two queen beds with sheets that seemed to be made of gold, and had little cards and candies on them.

"CANDY!" I yelled, diving for them as Naruto ran to the kitchen and opened the cupboards.

"RAMEN!" He yelled in glee.

We continued to scream and run around until I tripped onto the bed and grasped the pillow in surprise.

I gasped, "PILLOW FIGHT!"

It threw the pillow in Naruto's face and proceeded to grab as many pillows as I could, but he recovered and obtained three.

He aimed the first one at my face in revenge, but missed and hit the wall as I dodged. I somersaulted on the bed and threw another with enough force to make the pillow explode and leave him wheezing. Whoops, bad aim.

He countered with a direct assault and hit the side of my face with the pillow. I dramatically jumped as if thrown, and landed on the bed in a heap. Naruto tried to jump on me, but I rolled onto the floor. I made a jump for the pillow on the floor, but got distracted by a knocking at the door and landed on my face.

Naruto ran and opened the door without helping me up, as we have gotten pretty close these past couple of days.

"What are you doing here?!" Naruto glared at the person at the door.

"Hn, shut up. You're annoying. Stop making a racket." An irritated voice grunted.

"This floor is for clans only." Sasuke told them.

"Oh, good thing I used Naruto's name!" I laughed.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in irritation before leaving toward his own room, which just happens to be right next to ours.

I glared at his retreating figure before quirking my lips into an evil smirk. I turned to Naruto, who sweatdropped in fear of what I would do to him, "Let's throw a welcoming party." I grinned.

He looked at me confused as I walked toward the left side of the room and banged on the wall. I then began running in circles and hollering as loud as I could with my pokemon following suit. We heard a thump against the wall from the other room, and realizing what I was doing, Naruto called room service and ordered some movies, junk food, and sodas as loud as he could.

Ten minutes later, we were enjoying a full out party with just the two of us. The tv was playing some comedy I couldn't bother to remember as the music blared and we sang and danced around the room. Our pokemon cheered and betted on an arm wrestling match between Pikachu and Squirtle, throwing out the occasional bolt or cuss word in pokemon language.

In my frenzy I opened the mini fridge to find alcohol. I pulled it out and took a swig. I slung my arm around Naruto's neck and motioned for him to drink some.

"Sakura-chan, I don't drink, well I've never had any before, but-uh-fine!" He relented and grabbed the bottle, "Hey, this is like an indirect kiss!" he grinned.

"I don't care, just drink!" I laughed and tilted the bottom upwards.

The resulting aftermath could not be described.

With the morning sun pouring in through the open blinds, I groaned as my eyelids struggled to banish the vile photons from their invasion on my pupils. It was a valiant and longstanding battle, but as always, the sun demons won.

I rubbed my eyes as I dragged myself up into a seated position. I grinned as I remembered the previous night's antics. We kept the party going for hours, until the manager came and told us to quiet down. After which, we lowered the music and whisper sang and tiptoe danced, making us laugh so hard that we passed out from lack of oxygen. All in all, it was a decent party.

I looked to my right to see Naruto snoring loudly, a bottle of alcohol hugged to his chest. He had drool coming out the side of his mouth and smearing some of the art I drew on his face.

'_Oh yeah, whoever drank faster got to draw on the other's face, huh?" _I mused to myself as I walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

After ten minutes of staring into space and five minutes of actually washing, I stepped out of the shower and dressed myself in a towel. I walked out to find Naruto frozen mid step while walking to the bathroom. I tilted my head in confusion at his blushing and shocked face.

I suddenly felt a murderous presence as a ball of yellow flew through the air and hit Naruto in the face. A shell appeared behind his feet, and the momentum made him fall and hit his head. I looked down to see Pikachu and Squirtle high-five with mischievous smirks on their faces.

I shook my head at them. Honestly, true rivals are just best friends with competitive issues.

I went through my bag and took out a set of clothes. I began taking my towel off until a scream sounded out behind me. I turned to see Naruto running in circles while clutching his face.

"My eyes! MY EYES!" He screamed as he tried to pry something from said optics.

I looked down to see Caterpie smiling innocently with some web hanging out of her mouth. I crouched down and patted her head, calling her a good girl.

I looked over to see Pikachu and Squirtle pouting.

I blinked at them, "Just so you know, I'm still naked."

They blushed and dragged Naruto's body into the bathroom and shut the door. After finally getting some privacy, I dressed in my jeans and camisole. When Naruto came out of the bathroom, I was sitting on the couch watching a movie.

He froze and pointed in my direction, "Who's that?"

I looked to the girl at my right and back at Naruto, "I don't know. She just came out of the tv and grabbed at me, so I gave her some leftover popcorn."

"Oh, okay then. Aren't we going to the gym?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, huh. Sorry, back into the tv." I told the girl. She groaned in a raspy voice and crawled back into the monitor, before reaching back and grabbing the popcorn.

I looked back at him, "So, gym?"

The streets were oddly empty as I made my grand entrance. I walked as slowly and dramatically as I could, puffing out my chest with my head high. Today was a very important day. It marked a milestone as the first in a series of gym battles that I would win. I was quite confident, if you couldn't tell.

"Wow Sakura-chan, your pokemon must be super strong if you're that confident." Naruto grinned at me.

"No, not really." I said seriously, facing straight ahead.

Naruto blinked and laughed, "Same here!"

We linked our arms around each other's shoulders and laughed like drunken sailors as we neared the gym.

We looked at each other.

"I call dib-" Naruto began but was cut off by me punching him square in the face and running in without looking back.

I ran through the hallway, not stopping for a break until I hit a body with my face, my momentum causing us to fall. It groaned and I shot up instantly, pointing an accusing finger at it.

"Emo-Teme! Why were you standing in the middle of the hallway?! People run through here, you know!" I yelled.

"Hn." He grunted with an eyebrow twitching in irritation as he got up. I was about to accuse him of more crimes when a bright spotlight shown down at the end of the hallway.

"OH, WHAT A GLORIOUS DISPLAY OF YOUTH!" A boy in a green spandex jumpsuit shouted as he appeared from thin air.

He looked over to Sasuke and raised his obnoxiously thick eyebrows in recognition, "YOU ARE THE UNYOUTHFUL YOUTH FROM YESTERDAY. HAVE YOU COME TO FINALLY BEAT ME?!" he laughed and struck what I would call his "good guy" pose.

I grinned at Sasuke, "So you did lose, after all."

He scoffed and looked away, "My pokemon were exhausted yesterday. His were well rested."

"Well, that's your own fault." I told him blankly, "But you still lost." I finished, raising a hand to cover my grin.

"YOU! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOM, I CAN SEE YOU OVERFLOWING WITH YOUTH!" he yelled with hearts in his eyes.

"I WOULD BRING YOU A FIELD OF ROSES IF I COULD LEAVE THE GYM!" he cried, disappointed.

"GOOD FOR YOU, BUT I'M JUST HERE FOR THE BADGE!" I yelled back challengingly.

"WHY OF COURSE! COME TO THE ARENA!" he yelled and sped off.

I, of course, ran after him yelling "YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUTH!"

Sasuke followed after us with his eyebrow twitching in irritation. When I got there, I was surprised to find Naruto already on the bleachers with a rolled up wad of tissue in his nose.

"Took you guys long enough! I could've gotten my badge by now!" he boasted.

"Well I met the gym leader, so I go first!" I yelled back.

"Did you expect me to jump down there?!" he yelled.

"Yes!" I declared.

"Well not this time! My nose still hurts!"

"Good for you!" I nodded to him. I turned back to the gym leader, "Well, shall we get started?"

"VERY WELL! I AM ROCK LEE, DEWFORD TOWN GYM LEADER!" He yelled as he brought out a pokeball.

"I am Haruno Sakura, future Pokemon Master!" I yelled as Pikachu crouched in front of me.

"AND I AM MIGHT GAI! I SHALL BE YOUR YOUTHFUL REFEREE!" another man who looked like an older version of the boy yelled from the sidelines.

"When did you get here!?" I yelled.

"AHAHA, THAT IS IRRELEVANT!" he laughed.

"WHAT A YOUTHFUL SPEECH, GAI-SENSEI!"

"I KNOW! NOW, THIS SHALL BE A THREE ON THREE BATTLE! SWITCHING IS NOT ALLOWED! START!" he yelled while chopping the air.

"Pikachu, I choose you!" I yell.

"Pika-pi!" he smirks bravely.

"MANKEY, SPREAD THE YOUTH!" Lee yelled as an unusually enthusiastic monkey jumped out of his pokeball and got into a fighting stance.

I pointed my pokedex at it, _"Mankey, the monkey pokemon. __Light and agile on its feet, and ferocious in temperament. When angered, it flies into an uncontrollable frenzy."_

'_**Well, isn't that great, it's you in the morning!'**_

"Pikachu, quick attack!" I commanded.

Pikachu used his agility and ran so fast towards the target that he was a blur. Right before he made the final leap, Lee yelled, "LOW KICK!"

Mankey swiped Pikachu's feet out from under him and kicked him a few feet away.

"Pikachu, are you okay?!" I yelled in worry. I breathed a sigh of relief as he got up, and sweatdropped from the killer aura surrounding him.

He growled at Mankey and received a leer in response, but it had no effect. In fact, it seemed to excite Pikachu and make him more eager to fight. He smirked in response to Mankey's frustration with his cheeks sparking in excitement.

"Alright, I got it." I nodded to him and he nodded back in confirmation.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" I ordered.

He sped off at an even faster pace than before, surprising Mankey and creating an opening in his defense. With no way of blocking or counterattacking, Mankey was forced to dodge to escape Pikachu's attack as PIkachu jumped to headbutt his torso. He steeled his defense this time and waited as Pikachu got closer.

When Pikachu was close enough for the jump, Lee yelled out, "LOW KICK!"

Mankey aimed the kick to hit right before Pikachu's jump, but Pikachu jumped into the air before his kick could land, and spun twice in the air. On the second spin, Pikachu's tail glowed white and smashed right onto Mankey's head, immediately knocking him out.

"Alright, Iron Tail!" I cheered as Pikachu ran up to me seeking praise.

"MANKEY CAN NO LONGER BATTLE! WINNER, HARUNO SAKURA!" Gai announced from his spot as the referee as I patted Pikachu on the head and told him how proud I was.

When I looked up I could've sworn I saw something in Sasuke's eyes from his seat in the stands, but Naruto's excessively loud cheering distracted me. After throwing a rock I found on the floor to get him to shut up, playfully of course, I turned back to Lee who had already chosen his next pokemon.

"LET'S HAVE A YOUTHFUL BATTLE, MACHOP!" Lee yelled as he threw his pokeball to reveal a small bipedal pokemon with grayish-blue skin and three ridges on top of its head. Its large muscles and stance reveal a fighting style pokemon.

I took out my pokedex and pointed it at him, "_Machop, the superpower Pokémon. Machop have muscles that never tire no matter how much they exercise. Machop have enough strength to throw 100 average sized adults."_

I scrunched my face up in irritation and pouted, "Even I can only throw fifty right now."

"I completely believe you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled from the sidelines. That boy has some incredible senses.

I turned around and motioned for Squirtle, who had been sulking ever since Pikachu won, to come forward. This seemed to break him out of his gloom, as he ran forward on his stubby legs.

I put my hands on his shoulder and looked him in the eye, "Squirtle, I'm counting on you. This is something only you can do, will you do it?" I asked him.

He blinked before smirking in confidence, "Squirt!" He replied while pounding his fist against his chest.

Squirtle jumped into the arena as Gai started the match, his smirk never wavering. Squirtle locks eyes with his opponent and sends him a smug look of inevitable victory. Squirtle gets down on all fours as he anticipates my command.

"Squirtle, Tackle!" I yell.

He speeds off at a quick pace for a squirtle and aims for Machop, who dodges to the left and swiftly turns around so that he's facing Squirtle's back.

"KARATE CHOP, MACHOP!" the spandex clad gym leader commands.

Machop aimed for Squirtle, but was surprised when he hit only shell, which rendered his attack useless. Squirtle had withdrawn into his shell right before Machop's attack and suffered no damage. While in the safety of his shell Squirtle hit Machop with a Tail Whip, knocking him off balance. Machop recovered instantly and waited for Squirtle to come out.

"Bubble!" I command before giggling t myself. Bubbles, hehe.

Before Squirtle could unleash his attack, Machop had used foresight and interrupts him by grabbing his torso.

"SEISMIC TOSS!" Lee yells with a raised fist as Machop hurls Squirtle into the air. Squirtle withdrew into his shell in the nick of time, before he slammed into the ground and left a small crater. He lets his head poke out, face down and Machop comes closer to deliver the final blow. As he yells and brings his arm up for the Karate Chop, water erupts from Squirtle's mouth and shoots into Machop's. It was a relentless attack that left no room for Machop to breathe, and before long he collapsed from lack of oxygen.

"MACHOP CAN NO LONGER BATTLE! WINNER, HARUNO SAKURA!" Gai calls out.

"Nice Water Gun, Squirtle!" I smile with a thumbs up as he struts back to me. Pikachu gave him an uninterested once over before quirking his eyebrow mockingly and looking away. Squirtle raised a fist at him in irritation, making me sigh at their antics as I took a potion out of my backpack.

"Come 'ere." I beckoned Squirtle to me as I wagged my hand. He came and blushed as I applied the necessary medical procedure, throwing a smug grin over to Pikachu who was fuming in anger.

"AND NOW FOR THE FINAL MATCH!" Lee yelled.

"Wait, didn't I technically win already?!" I yelled, confused.

"IT IS A THREE ON THREE MATCH, THEREFORE YOU MUST DEFEAT ALL THREE POKEMON!" Gai replied, having known the rules for the gym.

"Well that's a pain." I mutter and look to Caterpie who is now on my left, "Sorry Cat, but I'm not going to call on you this time. No offense, but I don't think you'd last against those brutes." I say, referring to everyone behind me, which just so happens to be every male in the gym. Pikachu and Squirtle froze their glaring match in realization that I meant them too, and turned away from each other to signify their newfound formalness.

"COME OUT TO BATTLE, HITMONTOP!" Lee yells out as a pokemon with a spinning top-like head forms from the white glow of the pokeball in Lee's hands.

"Hey, it looks like a toy from my childhood." I blinked and fished out my pokedex.

"_Hitmontop, the Handstand Pokémon. Hitmontop's smooth graceful __kicks __are deceptively powerful. Opponents may be surprised by their force, so beware." _The computerized voice informed me.

"Sorry, Squirtle. I think Pikachu's more suited for this battle." I told him as Pikachu smirked and jumped into the arena.

"This is it," I mumbled to myself, "Pikachu, Quick Attack!"

He ran towards the fighting pokemon, just as he had before, and quickened his pace as he neared him.

"RAPID SPIN!"

Before Pikachu's attack landed, Hitmontop began spinning on the spike at the top of his head and blocked Pikachu's attack with his feet. The force knocked Pikachu back a few feet and left a bruise on his cheek. Pikachu fingered the bruise and spit on the ground.

"Thunderbolt!" I commanded.

Pikachu shot out a bolt of electricity to shock Hitmontop as I realized that my pokemons' abilities weren't good for close range combat against a pokemon of this level. Just as the attack was about to hit, Hitmontop spun so fast that he drilled into the ground and disappeared. Pikachu began looking around in frustration at looking sight of his opponent.

"Concentrate, Pikachu. Try to sense him." I advised calmly.

Pikachu closed his eyes and took a breath, then opened them in awareness of the vibrating beneath his feet. He jumped into the air as Hitmontop jumped out of the ground and aimed a punch at him. Pikachu dodged in the air and spun once.

"Iron Tail!" I shouted as Pikachu's tail glowed white and slammed down on Hitmontop's head.

I was overjoyed until the dust cleared and revealed that Hitmontop had blocked Pikachu's Iron Tail with his forearm. Then grabbing Pikachu's tail, Hitmontop landed a kick right on Pikachu's side, knocking him out.

"PIKACHU CAN NO LONGER CONTINUE, ROCK LEE IS THE WINNER!" Gai announced.

"Pikachu!" I ran and picked him up. He was pretty beat up, so I began administering first aid to all of his bruises. After spraying a bit of potion on him, Pikachu woke up and winced. He racked open an eye to smile remorsefully at me.

"P-Pika." He said.

"You did great. You still lost, but hell, you surpassed my expectations and learned a new attack today. Looks like I'm buying you ice cream after all." I smiled at him and stood up.

"HALT, CHERRY BLOSSOM!" Lee shouted as I began to turn around.

"What?" I groaned and Pikachu glared at him with his open eye.

"THAT WAS SUCH A YOUTHFUL DISPLAY OF SKILL AND PARTNERSHIP! I AM COMPLETELY MOVED BY YOUR CARE TOWARDS YOUR POKEMON!" Lee yelled with tears in his eyes as he ran up to me.

"Uh, thanks." I blinked at him.

"AND SO, I WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT YOU WITH THIS!" he yelled, taking something out of his pocket and holding it out to me. My eyes widened in shock.

"THE KNUCKLE BADGE!" he grinned widely as I hesitantly held out my hand and received the object. I slowly smiled and cheered with the rest of my pokemon and Naruto.

Afterwards I went to the Pokémon Center to fix up Squirtle and Pikachu. Over the next couple of days, Naruto and Sasuke both won badges by defeating all three of Lee's pokemon. I congratulated Naruto with a glomp and lots of cheering.

To celebrate our first gym badges, Naruto and I had a huge ice cream party that we invited Sasuke to when he stopped by to complain again. Apparently, because of Sasuke's family or something the hotel staff didn't really try to stop us and let us have our fun until we passed out again. I woke up surrounded by my pokemon, with Naruto and Sasuke asleep at my sides.

"_So you got the gym badge on your first try. Good job Sakura." _Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

I grinned at the monitor, "Yep, and then we had a party back at the hotel!"

"_You said that already."_ Kakashi sweatdropped.

"Yeah, but I beat all three pokemon! Sakura-chan beat only two!" Naruto grinned.

Kakashi flinched at the honorific attached to my name and glared menacingly at Naruto, though I didn't notice, _"You're different than her. Sakura just has a unique form of training."_

He looked back over to me and I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, as I knew what was coming, _"That being said, you need to train all aspects of your pokemon, not just certain traits. You can focus on training those specific areas, but don't forget to work on the other parts as well."_

"Yes, sensei." I sweatdropped at the scolding as Naruto took out his notepad and wrote down Kakashi's instructions.

"Why do you take Kakashi-sensei so seriously, Naruto?" I tilted my head in confusion at him.

Naruto blinked at me, "You really don't know?"

I shook my head, but just as Naruto was about to explain a menacing aura emanated from the screen behind me.

Naruto shook in fear as he stuttered, "M-My dad's a famous trainer, s-so his student should be really strong too, right?"

Another glare pierced Naruto's gaze and made him shake even more.

I blinked, "Well, I guess that makes sense." The promises of death evaporated as I looked back at the screen, "Well, we better get going."

"_What about money?"_ Kakashi inquired.

"Oh, don't worry. Naruto's paying." Waved at him and turned off the monitor, ignoring the weak protests behind me.

Naruto walked ahead of me as we walked toward the exit of the city. I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

'_Naruto was surprised that Kakashi-sensei knew his father.'_

'_**And he was taking notes before Kakashi even mentioned it.'**_ Inner pointed out

'…' I pondered this silently.

'_**Oooh, he's hiding something!'**_ Inner laughed gleefully.

I was so immersed in my thoughts that I didn't notice Naruto's halt and crashed into his back. Pikachu glared him from atop my head and Caterpie winced at her red nose as I looked over to see a dark brooding figure.

"Oh, hey Teme." I said casually. He hn'd without looking at me and turned to leave.

I brought my hand up to cover my mischievous smile, "What? Were you waiting for us?"

"Hn." He responded as we began walking out of the town, "We're going the same way."

* * *

><p><strong>Finally! Your long awaited Gym Battle!<strong>

**ADS presents you with 4,300+ words!**

I can not tell you how difficult it is to sum up the motivation for a battle, especially when it's against a tough opponent.

**What do you expect?**

I need your feedback to keep myself going!

*****_ I have uploaded a picture of Sakura and Pikachu, and put the link at the bottom of my profile._


	7. Clefairy

**Disclaimer: I'm sorry, but at this point you should get your eyes checked.**

* * *

><p>As we walked along through the forest my head was filled with images of trees and clear skies. One might think of many poetic and romantic settings for my journey, traveling with two gorgeous men on the road to our dreams. In all actuality however, we were lost.<p>

I had spent the past three hours listening to the bickering of my two male companions, Naruto and Sasuke. In fact, had they not had a contest to see whose Pokémon were better navigators we probably wouldn't be lost right now. And damn my stupid ass for going along with them.

_**'You could've just said no…'**_

_'It's hard to when there's a competitive spirit in the air. Besides, we're going to be traveling with these two for who knows how long, we might as well get along.'_

I sighed at my misfortune. Apparently the reception won't work this deep into the mountains so I can't call Kakashi for help, and I can't find the GPS icon on his tricked-out pokedex. A tear escaped my eye as I gave myself a sad smile.

Naruto saw this and asked what was wrong. I responded with, "Because you're both stupid… and so am I…" Naruto gave me a sympathetic pat on the back before realizing what I said and yelping.

Sasuke just sulked in irritation off to the side, probably wondering why he had decided to join us on the trip to the next town. I looked over and wondered if he would truly depart from us then, leaving only Naruto and me once again. I by no means like his attitude or him in general, but I admit that it was fun traveling with these two these past few days. I'm glad to have others by my side…

Sasuke apparently noticed me looking in his direction and raised his eyebrow questioningly. Then behind him, I saw a tall mass arise through the trees and shouted, "It's a mountain!"

"There's a lot of mountains around here, Sakura-chan." Naruto told me like one would talk to a small child.

"I'm gonna climb it!" I yelled before speeding off into the direction of the mountain. It took Naruto and Sasuke a moment to comprehend my running off before they rushed after me, Sasuke albeit reluctantly.

Upon reaching the mountain, I heard a screaming voice full of pain. Being the ever so smart teenage female that I am, I skipped toward it to find a man in a lab coat huddled in a fetal position to minimize the damage from the flock of Zubat that were attacking him. I pulled out my pokedex as Naruto and Sasuke caught up to me.

_"Zubat: Blind Pokémon with supersonic powers. Zubat live in caves and hate to fly outside in daylight."_

"Well, apparently not." I mumbled, "Well, guess I'd better help." I sighed as I stretched my arms casually.

Then, narrowing my eyes I ran up to the flock all while yelling a war cry. The loud noise apparently shocked the Zubat and sent them fleeing back into the cave, me following for good measure.

Naruto and Sasuke watched their new comrade once again run off for no particular reason. Naruto sweatdropped at her actions, while Sasuke simply sighed and rubbed his temples. A moan from below reminded them of the person who was attacked. Naruto helped him up and asked him if he was okay. The man then jumped and hugged him tightly while cheering, "Wow! You guys are the greatest!"

"No, really. It was nothing." came Naruto's muffled attempt to calm the man down so that he could breathe.

"I mean that was super fantabulistic, two thumbs up!" apparently it had no effect, "Way up, the best rescue I've ever had!" _'Is this normal for him?!' _Naruto and Sasuke thought. Finally, Naruto shoved away from him and into Naruto, thus starting another onslaught of insults between the two. The man blinked and began laughing heartily.

They looked at him angrily, making him back away, "It's just that you two seem like such good friends-"

"We're not friends!" The two boys yelled in unison.

"Bullshit." came a voice from behind them.

The three males looked up to see me sitting cross-legged on a tree branch. The weak-looking glasses guy looked from my position to the cave and back several times while Naruto and Sasuke had an expression on their faces like they should be used to this by now but they still wonder how I do that.

Naruto turned to the man, "This is Sakura-chan, the one who _actually_ saved you."

I jumped down from the branch to be immediately hugged by the strange man. He then let me go and grabbed my hands, "Have I mentioned how thankful I am?"

"Yes." I replied emotionlessly.

Naruto sweatdrop-laughed before asking the man, "So, mister what's-your-name why were you being attacked?"

His eyes widened and he turned to Naruto so fast I was pretty sure he got whiplash, "Never call me mister! My name is Seymour, Seymour the Scientist! Knowledge. Research. I am Seymour the Scientist!" he concluded with various poses.

We looked at him blankly for a second, "Can I punch him?"

"Sakura-chan, that's bad."

Seymour took us inside to explain the problem at hand. Apparently someone had strung lights all throughout the web of caves, upsetting and confusing the nocturnal residents of the mountain.

"So that's why the Zubat left the cave and attacked you?" Naruto proposed as we walked with Seymour through the cave.

"Or it could be that he's just _that _weak-looking." I mumbled with Sasuke nodding in agreement for once. Naruto gave a hesitant laugh as anime tears fell from Seymour's eyes.

"Anyways, I'm here on patrol to catch the fiends who strung these lights!" Seymour proclaimed enthusiastically. When Naruto asked why someone would be after this cave, Seymour mumbled, "I think it might be because of the legend of Mount Moon."

I blinked, "What's Mount Moon?"

The three then suddenly turned to look at me incredulously. I backed away reflexively with my eyes flashing from side to side in surprised confusion, "What?" I asked frozen in place.

"Sakura-chan, you don't know the legend of Mount Moon?" Naruto asked, surprised etched on his face.

"I believe we've already established that, Naruto." Was my clipped response, "Actually, Kakashi-sensei never really told me anything about the world outside of Pallet Town." I mumbled thoughtfully.

"Kakashi? That name is very familiar…" Seymour mumbled to himself yet could still be heard by the three. He turned back to them and smiled, "Well, the legend of Mount Moon is about the Moonstone deep within the mountain." He then posed and prepared his voice,

"The Moonstone is an awesome boulder,

A million years old or even older.

Deep in these cave the meteor hides,

Though no scientist has ever found the place,

Of the legendary rock from space!

We've studied its fragments for many an hour

And discovered it increases a pokemon's power.

And that is why the attackers are here,

They've come to take the Moonstone!

Or so I fear."

I gave him a blank stare, "Seriously, can I punch him?"

"Ehehe, try to restrain yourself Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a humorless smile as his eye twitched in irritation.

"Ever since I was a little boy, I've believed that pokémon came from outer space! And where, you ask, is the ship on which they traveled here? Why, I believe that it's the Moonstone." He finished and looked at the shocked face of Naruto and interested head tilt of Sasuke. He then saw my expression, "Why don't you seem surprised? Could it be, that you are like me?!" he rhymed again as he took my hands.

"Oh yeah, like it's normal for mammals to shoot lightning from their cheeks." I replied sarcastically. Naruto nodded in realization and Sasuke turned his head away in embarrassment at not considering this. I'll be sure to tease him later, hehe.

"But don't you see, this means the Moonstone belongs to the pokemon! We humans must not take it from them!" He then creepily squirmed to me, "You agree, don't you?"

"If it will dislodge your hands from my body then yes." I quickly replied. Not a second later did a cute fluffball of pink start prancing past singing 'Clefairy'. I instantly turned toward it, but Sasuke-bastard grabbed my backpack before I could chase after it. I looked up to see an expression that read 'not this time' spread across his irritated face.

My face drooped in disappointment, but instead of wallowing in self-pity I opted to take out my pokedex (courtesy of Kakashi) and point it at the ball of cuteness.

"_Clefairy. This impish pokemon is friendly and peaceful. It is believed to live inside Mount Moon, although very few have ever been seen by humans."_

"Cool." I mumbled appraisingly as I took a picture with the camera app in cellphone-like fashion. Naruto ran up to catch it, but Seymour stopped him and gave another long speech, forcing Naruto to put away his pokeball in fear of the wrath I would unleash upon the annoying scientist.

Then, as if Karma wanted to stock up some points for me, we heard the Clefairy cry in fear. The four of us ran into the tunnel that the Clefairy entered to see the same sharp-toothed boy from a few days earlier towering above the fluffball menacingly.

"Don't be scared of Suigetsu." He cooed mockingly before turning in the direction of our approaching footsteps. He jumped back at the sight of me, "It's you! Why are you here?!"

"We got lost and now we have to deal with two annoyances!" I huffed as Caterpie wiggled out of my arms to check on the frightened fairy pokemon. She calmed it down and turned to glare at the shapeshifter.

"_Two? Make that double."_

"_To protect the world from devastation,"_

"_To unite all people within our nations__,"_

"_To denounce the evil of truth and love,"_

"_To extend our reach to the skies above__,"_

"_Karin."_

"_Juugo."_

"_Team Taka, blast off at the speed of light,"_

"_Surrender now or prepare to fight__."_

"Suigetsu, that's right!"

"That again?" Naruto wondered aloud, speaking both mine and Sasuke's thoughts.

"You're just jealous, boy." Karin humphed.

"Because we won't let you join us." Juugo added snidely.

"Uh… no thanks, I'll pass." Naruto waved them off with a disgusted face. I snickered at their reaction and Sasuke turned his face away to hide his smirk. Seymour looked between our two groups confusedly, "Uh, do you know these people?" he asked warily.

"Oh, I just blew them sky high once before," I smirked with a twinkle in my eye, "literally."

"So that means that you're the ones who set up the lights in these caves?!" Seymour yelled in realization. Naruto, Sasuke and I all gave him a look that questioned his credibility as a scientist, given his dumbass question.

"Oh, how will we ever forgive ourselves?" Karin cried mockingly.

"We want the Moonstone to power up our pokemon." Suigetsu grinned.

"And there's no one to stop us." Karin finished with a flip of her hair.

"We're right here, bitch." I pointed out in an obvious fashion. The redhead looked down at us with belittling eyes until they landed upon our emo-duck. Karin immediately fixed her posture and began patting down her hair. She brought out a mirror from her cleavage and used it to check her makeup, and placed it back inside once satisfied. She then moved into a position to show her exposed cleavage to Sasuke while asking in what she considered to be a sexy fashion, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Karin, you do realize that when you think you look sexy you actually look like a constipated camel, right?" Suigetsu gagged.

"Well I wasn't talking to you, berry-breath!" Karin yelled back, her face red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"It's not like I wanted to shapeshift like this!" he snarled at her. I whipped my head to look at him, "_I_ want to shapeshift! Do you know how awesome that would be?!" I demanded to know, outraged.

"We weren't talking to you, little girl! I was talking to that good-looking boy next to you." Karin finished dreamily while Suigetsu murmured in agreement with my previous statement.

"Bitch, if you're really that desperate for something hard to fill up that void, then take one of these rocks and piss off." I offered with my hand outstretched to the cave floor. Suigetsu and Naruto burst out laughing, and from the corners of my eyes I saw Sasuke and Juugo hiding their smirks.

Karin fumed in embarrassment and finally having enough she threw a pokeball in my direction, "Arg! Ekans, kill that little brat!"

A purple snake formed out of the light that escaped the sphere and opened its mouth to bite me. Pikachu in all his badassery shot out a Thunderbolt from atop my left shoulder, defeating it easily. Pikachu sighed in disappointment of how weak it was.

Karin began to scream out obscenities at this point and having had their fill of laughter at her expense, her two teammates decided to fight as well. Juugo called out a Coffins and ordered for a smog attack, but before he could release it Naruto's Vulpix Kyuubi had already launched a flamethrower in its direction, shooting all the way to blow Karin and Juugo away.

I stared wide eyed at the sight of an idiot like Naruto possessing such a strong pokemon, but before I could beat the information out of him I noticed something missing. Then it clicked, "The duck and the chameleon are gone! Oh, and the poem guy, too."

During the battle, Sasuke clicked his tongue and grabbed Seymour's hand. He narrowed his eyes until the opportunity arose before jumping into a run, dragging the scientist behind him. He yelped in surprise and looked back, "Should we really be running away, what if they need help?!"

"They're the bigger danger." Sasuke growled back in reply.

Seymour blinked and then decided to mention the question in his mind, "I thought you wished to fight, too-" but was cut off by the piercing glare Sasuke sent through him as irritation emenated from his body in waves. Seymour laughed fearfully.

As the two were making their way through the tunnels to find an exit, they came across the Clefairy from earlier. Knowing what his pink-haired compan- temporary companion would say, he decided to follow it. Seymour brightened up upon realizing, "Oh, I see! The Clefairy should know these tunnels well, so it'd be best to follow it! How'd you think of that in this situation?" he asked excitedly.

Sasuke brushed him off, not wanting to admit this as Sakura's idea. They had just set out to the next town when the three encountered a wild pokemon. Sasuke was embarrassed to admit that in the heat of the moment both he and Naruto had chased it in an attempt to capture it. By the time Sakura had caught up to them, the town was no longer in sight.

After hitting them a couple of times, Sakura had asked the local pokemon for directions. While Naruto had gone along with it, Sasuke questioned her sanity. In the end, however, they were led back onto the road. He then had to deal with the pinkette's arrogant smirk for the next three hours. Just the thought of it makes him lower his head in agitation.

Then suddenly, Sasuke was brought out of his reverie by a blinding light on the left. They followed the light to see the outside foliage, where Clefairy was quickly escaping to. Seymour chased after it, leaving Sasuke to sigh and run to catch up to him.

After about seven minutes of running, the two had reached a rocky cliff. The Clefairy jumped up the rocks happily while both Sasuke and Seymour were forced with the painstaking task of climbing up after it. As it reached the top, the two males heard an obnoxiously familiar voice confronting the puffball on the bridge. Not even two seconds later did it come tottering down to hit Sasuke in the face, sending all three of them into the water.

Suigetsu jumped onto a rock standing in the river and smirked cockily, "Okay, now give me that Moonstone."

"Suigetsu-kun, I'm sure we can be reasonable about this." Seymour nervously attempted to placate him.

"No, we can't!" the shapeshifter exclaimed before morphing into a Meowth with his claws drawn. He pounced, aiming for the Clefairy, but was interrupted by the sound of a pokemon being summoned.

Out of the water appeared two bulbs of yellow attached to a pair of antenna. Suigetsu looked at them apprehensively for a moment before a round ball of blue jumped out of the water. Behind this creature stood the stoic existence of Sasuke Uchiha. He smirked for a moment and uttered one command, "Chinchou, Water gun."

The Meowth-shaped Suigetsu attempted to swipe at it, but only found his mouth filling up with water. Soon, his body followed until he resembled a balloon, at which point he flew off into the skies. Sasuke smirked again triumphantly as he called back his Chinchou while Seymour sat soaked in water with awe written across his face.

He looked to the boy before him, "You're all very strong! How long have you been trainers?" he asked. Sasuke glanced at him before looking away, for what reason Seymour did not know. They suddenly heard footsteps and turned to see their two crazy trainers running up to them.

"Hey, you guys all right?" Naruto asked as we reached the two runaways.

Sasuke humphed and turned to walk onto the shore while Seymour explained what happened. I listened in minor- very minor- bewilderment at learning of Sasuke's pokemon. Chinchou were not something you see every day. I looked to my right to see the two boys bickering betwixt themselves.

'_These two are kind of amazing.'_

'_**Kind of.'**_

By the time Seymour had finished drying, evening had come upon us. The four of us sat on the assorted rocks under the bridge in a makeshift circle, after hours of heated debate that made no sense whatsoever, well between our two sets of rivals, anyway. Seymour, Caterpie, and I simply watched them act stupid for a few hours.

Eventually, I heard a rumbling sound coming from Caterpie's stomach. She looked away all shy-like, making me squeal at her cuteness. I reached over and broke up the arguments for a little snack brake. It was only then that everyone realized how hungry the (_**We.**_) were. While everyone snacked on beef jerky and trail mix, I took out a thermos from my backpack.

Naruto looked up curiously and asked, "What's that?"

I took a large brown pellet from the container and held it up to Caterpie, who gladly began munching on it, "Since I never like using pokeballs, whenever we did training in class I would always sneak out to go to Kakashi's lab. There he let me play with the pokemon and as he was a certified scientist, he also got me out of class a lot. Eventually, I wanted to take care of the pokemon since where I lived didn't allow pets. He then taught me how to make pokemon food. Since then, I've spent years perfecting my recipes for each individual pokemon. I made this back in Dewford Town. There's some for your pokemon, too." I added as I brought out some more containers for the boys' pokemon to eat from.

As we were finishing our meals, I looked over to a mass of rocks to see Caterpie talking with Clefairy. To the three boys it sounded like gibberish, but I heard it clearly. So when Caterpie called over Pikachu and motioned for us to follow, I jumped up to grab her and chased after them.

Pikachu and Clefairy guided us for a good two hours up the mountain before we reached another cave. I looked at it with the excitement I felt not quite reaching my face. If I were to show any more understanding of pokemon, Seymour would rhyme again and this time I _will _punch him.

We walked inside to find it lit with moonlight from the open ceiling. In the middle of the room sat a large boulder on a pedestal, with smaller stones fraying the bottom.

The Clefairy pranced over to it and set its stone in the last remaining space at the bottom of the boulder. Immediately after, all of the smaller stones glowed a beautiful blue, calling out the other Clefairy living in the cave. The puffball we met before greeted us on behalf of all the Clefairy before joining the others in a uniform dance around the Moonstone.

"Amazing, the Clefairy have formed their own society. This is an incredible sight!" Seymour watched in wonder.

Naruto turned to Pikachu, who was currently watching from atop my head, "What were you talking about with that Clefairy, anyway?"

"Pika-Pika Pikachu." He responded.

Seymour turned to him, "You can understand that?" he asked, amazed.

"No, but Sakura-chan can." He explained nonchalantly while pointing to me. All three of the men turned to me, expecting an explanation.

Just this once, "These Clefairy have been gathering the fragments of the Moonstone and are now praying to them."

"Praying? You mean because the Moonstone fell from the heavens?" Seymour mumbled aloud.

"So I guess the legends are true." Naruto commented.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted boorishly.

The idiotic scientist then began twirling in happiness, "Now it all makes sense! Outer space!

The pokemon and the human race

Will ride the Moonstone into space!

First to the Moon, then to Mars,

Then together to the stars!"

"I'm gonna punch him." I sung out casually. But before I could, we heard a familiar voice from earlier in the day,

"Stars? That's our que!" announced the childish tone of Suigetsu. Behind him stood Karin and Juugo, the former at a cross between trying to look sexy for Sasuke and trying to glare at me.

"Don't you guys ever get tired of having your asses kicked?" I huffed, exasperated.

"Depends on who does the kicking." Karin said while winking meaningfully to the duck she so desires.

Everyone, including the pokemon, gagged in response while I looked at her like she just claimed to be a pokemon, "Are you stupid?" I asked her while shaking my head.

She fumed and called out her Ekans while Juugo called out his Coffins again. At Karin's command, Ekans dug into the ground while Coffins let out a smokescreen. Pikachu jumped in front of me to fight, but started coughing from all the smoke. At the moment we were all blinded.

Through the panicked cries of the fairy pokemon and the numerous coughs around me, no sound could be heard. I could not detect the slightest movement from the thick black screen permeating the room. Then I felt a vibration through the soles of my shoes. It was slight but present, making me wonder if the others had noticed it. Looking around, it seems they haven't from the irritation my boys showed on their faces. For some reason though, I simply could not rid that vibration from my thoughts until it hit me.

They were after the Moonstone.

I felt my way over to where the stone should have lied but only felt air as I fell into the hole. Luckily Sasuke saw this and grabbed my hand before I was out of reach and together with Naruto he pulled me back onto the ground. By then the smoke has cleared enough to see the basic features of the cave and its residents, with the Moonstone nowhere in sight.

I cursed as the two boys helped me to my feet, "We need to chase them through the ground, but I don't have any ground types. Neither does Naruto as far as I know." I turned to Sasuke skeptically, "I would imagine this is where you save the day?"

"Hn." He replied as he dug in his pocket. Bringing his hand out, the prideful duck threw his pokeball to summon a gigantic snake made of grey boulders with a pointed apparition on the top of its head.

I took out my pokedex to scan this pokemon of which I already knew, _"Onix, the Rock Snake pokemon. It tunnels through the ground which shakes when it raises its thunderous roar. I can move through the ground at fifty mile per hour."_

I stared at the screen for a moment before shutting it closed with one hand and casually saying, "Well, just what we need."

I looked to Sasuke and he nodded, ordering his pokemon to tunnel after the escapees. The three of us along with my pokemon then ran back outside the cave to chase after the idiotic evildoers.

As we left I heard Seymour trip while trying to run after us. This succeeded in blinding him as he had then lost his glasses. One of the Clefairy then calmly picked it up and gave it to him, prompting him to ask why they weren't panicking over the loss of the stone. I slowed to a stop and waved for the two to go on ahead so that I could hear their answer. Then I smirked and ran to catch up to the chase.

As we reached the smooth decline of the mountain, the three of us instantly recognized the boulder speeding down while perched on a makeshift sled. My ears perked at the sound of that dreaded voice.

"Ahaha! Nice guys-" Karin began haughtily.

"-always finish last!" Juugo finished from the opposite side of the stone.

"We just went from worst to first!" laughed Suigetsu from his spot atop it. Then his smile faded as he felt a rumbling, as did the other two. Then from in front of them a giant rugged snake erupted from the earth. Having no time to react, the trio simply screamed as it destroyed their sled and any attempt to carry the stone.

We ran towards them with victorious smirks plastered on my and Naruto's faces. We cheered for Onix to finish them off, yet before we could Juugo called out his Coffins again to counter him. They clashed and pushed each other away, embedding Coffins in the ground as Onix fell from the blow. Juugo stared at the meteor-shaped pokemon embedded halfway in the ground with a sweatdrop and back at us. Sasuke took out his pokeball to call back the lump of rocks, yet paused and squinted at the hole in front of it.

Naruto and I followed suit to see the Seymour poking hallway out and looking around confusedly. Naruto and I were about to comment but were interrupted by the army of Clefairy jumping out from below him to stand in a uniform formation. We watched in apprehension as they all raised their arms with their fingers pointing toward the sky. They then began to move them from side to side while chanting.

"What are they doing?" Karin asked snidely.

"Waving their fingers?" Juggo added as the three of them began swaying in sync with the chant. I smirked in realization.

It was soon after that that Naruto and I also fell to the chant. Sasuke scoffed at how ridiculous we were being until he too found himself swaying from side to side. We looked to Seymour who began to explain while wobbling along with us, "This is an attack the Clefairy use called the Metronome. I've never seen the Clefairy use the Metronome before, who knows what will happen!" he finished as they lowered their arms and stood up straight with their legs together.

From their direction radiated a blinding light, destroying the ground and shooting a powerful beam of energy, lighting up the sky for a moment and blowing the screaming Team Sound away. When the debris settled, the four of us stared at the large hole in the ground. We each gave our own signs of appreciation, when I saw a bright spot of light to my side. I looked up to see particles of the Moonstone floating down from the sky.

I then glanced over to the Clefairy to see a fragment landing on its head. The Fairy pokemon glowed a bright light as it grew taller and I saw the size of its wings expanding. The light dimmed to show a mature version of the surrounding puffballs, several of which were evolving as well. I brought out my pokedex once again in wonder of this phenomenon.

"_Clefable, an advanced form of Clefairy. These unique creatures are amongst the rarest pokemon in the world."_

I blinked at this and muttered, "Awesome." While taking a picture with the camera app Kakashi had installed. Yeah, I can use the camera without looking but can't find the damn GPS, so what!

"The power of the Moonstone did this…" I turned to see Seymour frozen in awe of what had just transpired. I looked at him before returning my attention back to the pokemon in understanding.

After gathering the remaining fragment of the original Moonstone and arranging them in a pile back on the pedestal, the Clefairy once again began to chant and pray while jumped around the stone.

Out of nowhere, Seymour announced that he was going to live on Mount Moon with the Clefairy. We looked at him as if he had grown a second head, making him sweatdrop as he explained, "It's been my life's dream to find the Moonstone, someday I will travel to the stars with the Clefairy." He finished with a smile. Naruto, Sasuke, and I looked between ourselves and sighed with smiles adorning our faces.

As we were leaving the cave, I was stopped by a tugging on my jeans. I looked down to see the Clefairy from before motioning for me to speak with it. The Fairy Pokemon bowed and placed a small object in my hands, a fragment of the Moonstone. My eyes widened and I quickly looked up in surprise. The Clefairy thanked me for protecting their home and said it entrusted me with this prayer if I ever needed their help.

Smiling, I patted the pokemon on the head. Then, after running to catch up with my two boys, the three of us said our goodbyes as the morning sun rose to the continuation of our journey.

* * *

><p>Well damn.<p>

After** five months** of procrastination I present to you a 5,000+ chapter!

The total word count for the story (not including author's notes) is **5,079 words!**

**Thank you all for being patient with me!**

_**On another**_** note:**

I am going to start organizing my update schedule, one day for each story.

What days would you like me to update?


	8. Bulbasaur

I believe I am cursed.

After finally having found the main road once again thanks to the Clefairies' directions Sasuke began to get impatient with the time it would take to reach the next town, resulting in yet another argument between him and Naruto. The mood had gotten so fierce that even Pikachu and Squirtle had gotten caught up in the competitive spirit, resulting in a contest to see who can find the best short cut. With everyone having gone in separate directions, Caterpie and I had to leave a trail of Stringshot to a clearing and waited three hours until Pikachu and Squirtle found their way back to me.

After reprimanding them for being so reckless, regardless of how hypocritical I sounded, we had to exhaust Pikachu's Thunderbolt calling the two boys to our position. When we had finally regrouped one thing was blatantly evident, being that we were completely lost.

We wandered in a tense silence until Squirtle found a stream for us to rest by. I collapsed in exhaustion as soon as we reached some rocks and emptied my canteen. Knowing that I needed to refill it, I turned around to face the stream and stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of a blue bulb with two feet and leaf-like appendages sticking out the top drinking about ten feet away.

I blinked and pulled out my pokedex,_ "__Oddish, the weed pokemon. This Pokémon is typically found roaming the forest, scattering pollen as it walks around."_

"Finally, some luck!" Naruto shouted when he noticed where I was looking. He brought out a pokeball and threw it shouting, "Chikorita, I choose you!"

The white light dimmed to reveal a small pale green creature with a large leaf hanging on top of its head and a necklace of buds around its neck. The pokemon's red eyes shone in determination as it used a razor leaf attack to knock out the Oddish, throwing it back a few feet for extra measure. Naruto cheered and threw a new pokeball to capture the fallen pokemon when a vine shot out of nowhere and knocked the object back to hit Naruto in the face.

I ignore Naruto's yelp of pain and instead attempt to control myself at development that has occurred before me. As Naruto attempts to fight off the toad-shaped creature with spotted blue-green skin with a bulb on its back, I shakily moved around him to point my pokedex at it, _"Bulbasaur, the seed pokemon. It bears the seed of a plant on its back from birth. The seed slowly develops. Researchers are unsure whether to classify Bulbasaur as a__plant__or__animal__. Bulbasaur are extremely calm and very difficult to capture in the__wild.__"_

_**'Lucky.'**_ Inner grins.

_'I don't know…' _I sweatdrop as Naruto's Chikorita is defeated and the Bulbasaur grabs the Oddish before running off into the forest. The resounding impact of the leaf pokemon falling to the ground brought with it flashbacks of my own experience with a Bulbasaur's Vine Whip.

Sasuke smirks at the sight of Naruto's humiliating loss, and this pushes Naruto over the edge. With a new burst of energy, the blonde rushed after the two pokemon with fire in his eyes. It took a moment for Sasuke and I to realize what had just occurred, then we both cursed and begrudgingly ran after the dolt.

The three of us eventually reached a wooden rope bridge that connected with the opposite cliff. With anger as his drive, Naruto marched right across the bridge, forcing us to follow him. However, when we reached the middle a snapping sound behind me made me freeze and reach for the pokeballs in my backpack. Not a moment later did the railing snap, rocking the bridge and forcing us all to grab onto the remnants of the rope railing.

Having already prepared the three pokeballs, I thanked Kakashi for forcing me to use them as I called all of my pokemon back for the first time. And not a moment later did I feel my hand slip off the rope and my body hit the current.

In the panicked confusion that resulted when the railing snapped, Naruto somehow ended up clinging to Sasuke's leg to keep from falling into the rapids. Hearing the impact of something hitting the water the blond boy looked down reflexively, only to regret it immediately as a delusion of his death played out before his eyes.

Naruto face paled and he shakily cried while flailing, "Teme… Pull… me-up… PULL ME UP!"

Sasuke kicked the boy in the face to get him to stop thrashing about before they both fell, him only understanding when one of his hands slipped leaving only one to hang from.

After ten minutes of struggling, the boys collapsed on the opposite cliff in relief and exhaustion. Although too tired to move, Naruto managed a grin, "We're alive! Ne, Sakura-chan?"

The two boys froze when no response reached their ears. Then, disregarding their earlier state the two shot up and looked around to find no pink-haired companion in sight. Naruto got up and tried looking across to the other side but was stopped my Sasuke's arm on his shoulder, "She must've fallen into the river."

It took a moment for Sasuke's words to sink in before Naruto freaked out and began mourning the loss of their new friend, only for the stoic boy to smack him on the head in irritation, "It's not certain that she died, idiot."

Naruto paused and then slowly turned his head to look hopefully at Sasuke through tears and snot, "R-Really?"

The black-haired teen simply sighed and began walking along the length of the cliff, earning a surprised yelp from the blond. He continued to ignore the boy's angry questions for the duration of their walk down to the riverside, where Naruto finally realized that they came to look for their lost companion. He muttered a reluctant apology to the stoic teen before they continued down, following the current.

Not three minutes later did Sasuke hear a crash sounding from behind him. He turned to see no Naruto, but a hole in his place. A loud string of curse words bellowing from below confirmed that the blond boy had actually fallen into a pitfall trap, as unbelievable as it sounds. With a sigh, Sasuke crouched down and reluctantly dragged Naruto out of the hole, knowing that if he just left him there that their pink-haired companion's Pikachu would use the opportunity to shock the living hell out of him.

As soon as Naruto dusted himself off and began walking in their previous direction a feeling of foreboding settled in Sasuke's mind, making him push the blond back and take the lead instead. This proved to be a good move as they were able to avoid four traps afterwards. Just when Sasuke began to relax he felt Naruto bump into him not a second before a net shot up from the ground, entrapping the both of them.

At this point Sasuke could no longer contain his anger and burst out, "How the hell do you trigger a trap _behind_ me?!"

"Well you should've seen it!" Naruto fought back and pushed him into the netting, causing a childish scrimmage of nudging to commence in their entrapment. This continued on until they heard a raspy chuckling from below to see the Bulbasaur from before looking up at them condescendingly. Then with a final smirk he turned around and walked away, leaving the two shell-shocked boys to hang.

The cold water that hit my back caused me to open my mouth in shock and be suffocated from the rushing rapids. I struggled to break the surface for even a sip of air only to be thrust down under once more by the rapids, my vision clouded by the water smothering my face. My hands desperately reached out to grab hold of something to no avail, and just as I was losing consciousness I felt a small hand grab mine firmly before pulling my nearly limp body out onto the bank.

I instantly shot up onto my forearms and coughed heavily to rid the water from my lungs, my savior patting my back to soothe my convulsing body. When I had calmed enough, I looked up to see the face of a pretty young woman with a pink shirt and overalls. Her waist-length blue hair was revealed to be tied in a low ponytail when she leaned forward to check my condition, her hair not cascading from behind her back as it would, had it not been tied.

When I regained my senses and sat up the girl asked me worriedly, "Are you alright?"

I coughed a couple more times and shakily replied, "Well, I'm not drowning anymore so I guess that's a start."

With a huff and some help from the woman I was able to stand and catch my breath. When I was ready, she turned toward the forest and motioned for me to follow but stopped, "Oh, pardon my rudeness. My name is Melanie."

I followed after her, "No problem, I'm Sakura."

Melanie led me through the dense thicket for more than a few minutes until we reached a large clearing connected with a lake. Off to the side I could see a log cabin but that was not the focus of my attention. It was placed on the surrounding pokemon. They were everywhere. In such a clearing as this it would be too dangerous for so many species to reveal themselves, especially around humans. This place can only be built for the pokemon then. Huh, I didn't see that coming.

A giggle to my right snaps me out of my reverie as I turn to look at the source. Melanie smiled at me, "Your thoughts are shown on your face, it's entertaining to watch your expressions change so drastically. I hope I didn't offend you, or anything!" She added quickly in worry.

I blinked and sheepishly scratched my cheek before raising head toward her with a smile, "You're sweet, you know that Melanie? Really sweet." She also blinked and then smiled.

I stretched my arms over my head and sighed at hearing the crack from my back, "guess it's time to let them out." The blue-haired girl watched curiously as I dug around in my pack. I perked at the familiar round shape for the first time and pulled out three pokeballs, calling out the pokemon I had forcibly hid inside.

Out of the white light that emanated from within materialized Pikachu, Caterpie, and Squirtle each with different expressions on their faces. Pikachu was happy to be out and stretched, Caterpie looked at me worriedly, and Squirtle looked irritated to be forced inside suddenly but only to hide his own worry. Pikachu saw this and smirked, "Pika-pi Pikachu." The other two blinked and then relaxed.

Melanie looked on curiously, making me chuckle, "He just told them that there's no way a fall like that could ever hurt me." I told her, "He's right too."

She giggled and turned towards the cabin, "It's about time I go make the pokemon some food."

"I'll help, I need to improve my own skills anyways." I said as I followed her inside. In the corner of my line of vision I happened to see a Bulbasaur step out of the forest with a smug look on his face, muttering to himself. I blinked, _'Blonde idiot?'_

"Hey Melanie!" I called out to her, "I'm going out for a bit, okay? I lost some things."

"Oh dear, what did you lose?" She asked me worriedly.

"Consider them my wallets." I smirked as and went off to find the two. It took about a bit for Pikachu to catch on to their scent and about a half hour total before the sounds of an argument reverberated through the trees.

"Teme!"

"Baka."

I sighed as an unwilling look crossed my features, _'Maybe I should just leave them there.'_

"Hey, what's that in the bushes?!" Naruto cried. Crap, they spotted me. Might as well, then.

I poked my head out into the two's line of vision with a smile, "Sup, guys~" I sang.

A moment of silence passed before Naruto began crying at seeing me alive and well while Sasuke simply looked relieved that there was someone to get him out of the net. I skipped towards them, ignoring Naruto's various questions that bordered hysteria and brought out a pocket knife from my backpack. The boys cried for joy until I cut the rope and sent them crashing into the hard dirt on the forest floor.

Cursing while rubbing their hips made me smirk at the pain I caused the two boys, making the time spent looking for them worth every second. Of course Naruto recovered instantly, "Sakura-chan are you okay?! You're okay right?!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine." I waved him off and turned toward the direction Pikachu and I came from, "Now come on, let's go."

Sasuke got up to follow with a glare in my direction, "Where?"

"To Melanie's place." I answered curtly, irritating him even more. Heh, how does it feel to get the bare minimum words?

'_**Ass, glaring at us for saving your life.'**_

'_Well, that's only cuz Naruto spotted us.'_

'_**Yeah, but we didn't leave anyway!'**_

'_Inner, I think you need anger management counseling.'_

And before I even realized it we were once again facing the lake and log cabin. The pokemon that were playing around before now sat crowded around the bowls of pokemon food provided near the entrance to the cabin. She noticed me walking towards them and waved a hello, I waved back with a grin, "I found what I was looking for!"

Melanie tilted her head in confusion, "I thought you were looking for some items you lost, I wasn't able to make any snacks." She finished dejectedly.

Naruto ran up and took her hands into his, "It's okay, just seeing a beautiful-"

He was cut off my both my and Sasuke's fists in the back of his head, "No need to worry dear, these guys are about as useful as a Magikarp that only knows Splash. Luckily they're rich." I finished, earning a glare from the Uchiha heir and a yelp of protest from the blonde on the floor.

"Don't put me in the same category as him." Sasuke huffed with a jab in Naruto's direction. A tick mark etched itself onto the blonde's face as another argument was generated between the two. Melanie and I watched them as they went further out into the clearing with varying expressions. My expression spoke the thought coursing through my head: idiots.

Seeing this, the blue-haired girl giggled, "You three sure get along well!"

My face unchanging I thought aloud, "You think so?" my voice monotone at the thought the revolting thought. Kakashi would not be proud. A loud rumbling from my stomach sounded out, "Aah aah, I'm getting cynical from hunger."

"Oh, then I'll go make you something." Melanie smiled as she entered the cabin once more. What a sweetie, that girl.

After serving the three of us and our pokemon some food, Melanie led us around the camp to explain, "You see, this place is like a pokemon health spa. When they get injured the pokemon come here to rest and have fun until they're healed. Then they leave."

"Not much of a paradise with those holes and nets around." Naruto grumbled.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the blue-haired girl apologized, "I was the one who set up those traps."

Naruto's eyes widened, "You did that?!"

She nodded in remorse, "I made those traps to catch trainers like you. You see, trainers come by trying to capture the pokemon and when they fail, they leave them injured in the forest. I made this place so that those pokemon can recover."

I looked at the pokemon playing around in the water for a moment, "We won't capture any pokemon in this forest, Melanie. I promise."

Said girl whipped her head to look at me with hopeful round eyes, "You mean it?"

I gave a sideways look to the two boys on my right, staring them down until they nodded reluctantly in submission. Then Naruto smiled and gave the blue girl the good guy pose, "Yeah, only bad guys catch hurt pokemon!"

A familiar blue blob popped out and ran to hide behind Melanie, "O-Oddish…"

Naruto blinked then sheepishly crouched down, "Hey, I'm sorry about before." He outstretched his hand in apology, the Oddish smiling after a moment and shaking it with one of the leaves on his head.

Sasuke scoffed at what he considered to be an embarrassing display, earning a retort from the blonde. Not long after did the two have a full-on fight once more. After a particularly rough shove from Sasuke, Naruto began falling towards Oddish with a collision oncoming. Right as he was almost down a vine shot out and smashed Naruto's body back to throw both he and Sasuke to the ground with a loud thud. Then a green blur runs to stand protectively in front of Oddish.

Naruto angrily shoots up, "What is with this Bulbasaur?! It trapped us in the net too!" In his anger Naruto reached for the pokeball in his pocket to call out Kyuubi, but before he could Melanie ran out to put an end to their fight,

"That's enough you two!"

Bulbasaur reluctantly stands down but continues to glare at the blond, who refused to drop the threat until a menacing aura surrounding me was aimed towards him. With a gulp Naruto returned the pokeball to his pocket choosing instead to cross his arms and sulk over to where Sasuke was getting back on his feet.

Not wanting to let the dark mood continue the blue-haired girl decided to explain the situation from her spot crouched down next to the seed pokemon, "Please don't mind him. You see, he volunteered to protect the entire camp by himself, so he's very protective of the pokemon and hates trainers. It's nothing personal, I assure you."

Bulbasaur gave Naruto a victorious smirk, causing him to rush forward in anger. I had been in the middle and was able to snatch Naruto's collar so that he was just waving around angrily from my grasp. Ignoring his curses I was able to focus on the seed pokemon and how Melanie described him.

'_Taking the initiative to protect all these pokemon all by himself, I would love to have such a brave and heroic pokemon.'_ I thought. Pikachu and Squirtle were brave, but they wouldn't exactly go out of their way and sacrifice while expecting nothing in return. Caterpie wasn't all that strong, and was actually quite meek despite her actions, so something like this would not currently be possible for her.

A shifting on my head shook me out of my reverie to see Pikachu's ear twitching as he looked at the sky. Following his line of vision I saw approaching quickly a large dome-shaped airship of some sort donning the iconic red 'S' that we have come to know recently,

"_To protect the world from devastation,"_

"_To unite all people within our nations__,"_

"_To denounce the evil of truth and love,"_

"_To extend our reach to the skies above__,"_

"_Karin."_

"_Juugo__."_

"_Team Taka, blast off at the speed of light,"_

"_Surrender now or prepare to fight__."_

"Suigetsu, that's right!"

"Ah damn, not again." I sighed exasperatedly.

No sooner had I said that did a giant hose pop out through an opening in the ship. Faced down towards the open terrain it began sucking up all of the pokemon at the camp. With my pokemon holding on tightly to me I was able to round up the remaining pokemon with Melanie and push everyone into the cabin. A shout from behind shocked me into turning around just in time to see the Oddish from before lose its grip on the ground and get sucked into the air. Before I could yell vines shot out and caught it, slowly pulling Oddish to the ground where Bulbasaur pushed it against the wind toward us. I put down Caterpie and Pikachu and ran outside to help Bulbasaur make it inside, Naruto and Sasuke pushing the doors closed immediately after.

Slouching down in temporary relief I surveyed the room to find more than two-thirds of the recovering pokemon gone. Oddish was shivering furiously with Melanie trying vigorously to calm him down. Soon I heard a creaking from the ceiling and looked up through the window to find the nails coming undone from the pressure. I ran a hand through my hair in aggravation and looked around to create and impromptu plan of attack when I noticed something missing. My heart dropped at the pitter patter of footsteps on the roof, making me run out only to find Bulbasaur facing the giant hose with his vines at the ready. The second it moved Bulbasaur used Vine Whip to knock the giant ose away and into the water to keep it occupied.

I ran back in with a jumble of thoughts running around in my head. One thing I was sure of however was that I should fight wind with wind, bad news being none of our pokemon have wind attacks. Then my eyes caught the sight of a Pidgeotto, one of the few pokemon to have escaped to safety. I ran up to it and told it my plan. When I finished, the Pidgeotto nodded and agreed to help.

Grabbing Squirtle, I ran outside and began my attack as the hose shot out of the lake, "Squirtle, aim your Watergun to change the hose's direction!" He complied instantly which allowed for me to continue, "Now Pidgeotto, use Gust!"

Flying out of the cabin the bird pokemon sent wind against wind, causing a tornado that opened a hole in the hull to set the pokemon within free before swallowing up the ship and Team Taka along with it and threw them far into the distance, only to be seen as a twinkle on the skyline.

"When will they learn not to mess with us?" I sighed, Bulbasaur nodding beside me.

Having watched our exchange through the window, Melanie came out with a thoughtful look on her face before nodding to herself and smiling at me, "I would like you to take Bulbasaur with you on your journey, as your pokemon." She told me with a smile.

I blinked, "Huh?" Bulbasaur shared my expression, "Wouldn't that be bad for the camp, after all he's been protecting it all this time."

The blue-haired girl bent down and stroked the Bulbasaur's bulb affectionately, "It's true that he's been a great help but this camp is far too small, it won't give him what he needs to grow." Then she looked up at me and her eyes softened, "Besides, I know you will take very good care of him. I can tell by how much your pokemon care for you."

I blushed a bit at the compliment but didn't reply for a moment as the memory of my last battle with a Bulbasaur ended up with me being thrown into a tree. Swallowing the memory I cleared my throat and looked to the dinosaur pokemon on the ground, "I would like to have a match first, to see if I deserve him."

With a nod he ran to the opposite end of the clearing as I waved Pikachu over to participate. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves as Melanie began the countdown, I reminded myself that I was not the one fighting and that there was a nice cushiony lake behind me.

At the start signal both Pikachu and Bulbasaur went in for a tackle, bouncing off of each other. When they separated they continued the game of force until Bulbasaur finally lost patience and wrapped his vines around Pikachu's torso, waving him about in the air. The moment he did a smirk appeared simultaneously on both of our faces, "Thunderbolt!" I called out, the attack shocking Bulbasaur to the point where his bulb was singed before he flipped on his back, unconscious.

I walked up to him with a pokeball in hand and patted his head until he woke up. I outstretched the ball to him with a smile, "Welcome to the team." And with a small smile he tapped it with his nose and was captured.

I walked back to the boys and my other pokemon, hugging the latter in joy of having made a new friend. Naruto pouted at my coldness and Sasuke just rubbed his head in irritation of the day's events. With a small sigh I jumped onto them and hooked my arms around their necks and let out a victory cheer, Melanie and the other pokemon smiling at our antics.

When we packed up our things and received the directions to the next town from the girl there were no parting words. Just the small smile of understanding passing between the two of us, its meaning known to us, and us alone.

* * *

><p>Hello my faithful-ish readers! Now before I beg for forgiveness with a dogeza I would like to cry about the end of summer vacation. Goodbye, my friend!<p>

I shall now commence bowing.


End file.
